Applications, including letters of reference,
are due by March 15, 2019.
Lightshine Church is a five year-old New Worshiping Community located in Westlake Village, California. It seeks to be a community that gathers well and scatters better.
Since 2013 Lightshine has been re-envisioning worship and what it means to be a faith community as a part of the 1001 New Worshiping Community movement, an initiative of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Both Lightshine and the 1001 NWC movement, and its residency partner, Cyclical LA, are thrilled to invite applicants for a special pastoral residency here in California.
The Context
Lightshine represents something very unique in our more conservative, suburban context. From our inception, we said we wanted to connect with people who do not fit neatly within the church climate around used those who have no connection at all with the church. Our first core value is welcoming diversity and even though our context isn’t racially diverse, we run the gamut of diversity in just about every other way; showing that a diverse church centered around Jesus and Christ’s mission in the world can be held together despite our differences.
We are in a beautiful, affluent, family oriented, highly educated, suburban context just north west of Los Angeles. Our ecology is: eclectic, always changing, never boring, risk taking, food and coffee loving, politically and socially active, fun, and mission minded. We enjoy being together in a variety of ways and love being a part of and serving our larger community. We are largely a group of “doers” who take the mission of the church seriously but who are humble, friendly and down to earth.
Responsibilities and Expectations for the Resident: The sky is the limit.
Lightshine Church would be a great setting for someone interested in church starting for a variety of reasons. We are a very mission minded, active, and highly participatory church community that also offers a very wide range of possibilities for a resident. We have excellent knowledge of church starting and are well connected to solid networks like 1001 NWC and Cyclical, Inc. We practice ground up, adaptive leadership and excel at incorporating the ideas of the whole community in moving forward on mission together. We are a very welcoming and diverse community who understands our context and loves to connect well in it. We have a broad range of excellent partners and so offer a wide variety of experiences for a resident. A resident here would be able to participate, learn, and lead in every aspect of who we are. We would be a great fit for someone wanting to plant in suburban context.
We hope to offer a very well-rounded opportunity for a resident. We would offer regular corporate worship and mission opportunities as well as small group opportunities and one on one regular meetings with Rob to help a resident process all that they are learning. We love the connectional nature of our denomination and want to help discerner / starters be better prepared for the work that God may be calling them to. We hope to learn from the resident as well. We hope to gain new perspectives, creative ideas, and we assume that a resident will help us to better become who God has called us to be because they have shared their gifts and knowledge with our community. We also hope that this resident will help people in our community better know of God’s love in Jesus and help them follow Jesus in every way.
Since we base these decisions on people’s skills, gifting, and passion this would best be left open until we know who the resident is. This resident would be invited to participate and lead in every / any area that was a fit. Examples: working with our community mission partners, tutoring kids, worship leading, preaching / teaching, joining Leadership Team (Session), budgeting, finance, leading small group, social media, e-newsletter, starting something entirely new etc. We will be open to wherever the Spirit leads on this one!
Financial Support
Financial Support: The total package available for support of this residency is $40,000 for the year, to include salary and at least a $1500 health insurance reimbursement. We will work with the successful candidate to organize the package to be most beneficial to the resident. The resident will be an employee of Lightshine Church. Residents also will take part in an advanced national training (costs covered by the Presbyterian Mission Agency) with 1001 apprentices and other residents this summer in Kansas City June 23-26. Applications, including letters of reference, are due by March 15, 2019.
For more information about 1001 New Worshiping Communities contact Sara.Hayden@pcusa.org or listen to episodes from our new podcast New Way. For more information about Lightshine, go to: lightshinechurch.org and/or find us on social media.