Category: Ministry Plan

Parish Administrator Job Opening


Immanuel Lutheran Church & School in the Five Forks area of Simpsonville, SC is seeking applicants for a Parish Administrator. Current weekly attendance is between 150 and 200 and trending upwards. An integral part of our ministry is a pre-school with an enrollment of 120. The Parish Administrator reports directly to the Pastor and congregational president. We seek candidates committed to our mission, “Immanuel, God With Us, serving our neighbor and one another with His love and forgivenessâ€. See the “I’m New†tab for more information about our congregation.

Basic responsibilities:

  • Determine the overall clerical requirements of the church office, the Pastor, and any church committees, and assure that these needs are met.
  • Schedule and coordinate with various personnel.
  • Encourage volunteerism by making direct requests to members and assure that all volunteers have appropriate assignments, training, and support.
  • Supervise and regularly evaluate all paid administrative and custodial personnel.
  • Assure that the church computer and information systems are up to date at all times.
  • Serve as a liaison to external social services.
  • Attend Council and School Board meetings.
  • Manage facility usage.
  • Work with the Trustees to assure a high level of housekeeping, grounds maintenance, and custodial services.
  • Assure timely publication of general advertising and marketing materials for the church.
  • Maintain a collegial relationship with the School personnel and families in order to promote the mission and vision of Immanuel Lutheran Church and School.
  • Candidate must be able to fulfill their responsibilities in accordance with the basic values and teachings of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod

Qualifications:

  • A minimum of five years of experience in a management position with same or similar responsibilities, including supervisory responsibility.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills and interpersonal skills.
  • Strong financial management and organizational skills.
  • Proficient in appropriate clerical and financial software tools.
  • Experience managing and working with volunteers.
  • Education beyond high school (or commensurate life experience) with a bachelor’s degree preferred.
  • A devotional and prayer life that is an example to those with whom he/she interacts.

For more information about Immanuel Lutheran Church and School, explore our website.

To apply, please send a cover letter (two page maximum), resume, and salary expectations to jobs@immanuellutheranchurch.com.

Review of applications will begin in mid-March.

A cross with the words ministry plan in the background.

Ministry Plan, Again

 

September brings with it the end of Summer and the beginning of a new school year and resumption of many other things that occupy our church and family calendars most of the year. This Fall at Immanuel, September also signals the beginning of a new chapter of congregational life as we consider a plan for our ministries into the future.

The Ministry Plan is a document I have been working on this Summer that is the product of the first two Steps of our planning process and will be used to guide our decision-making in the future. The Ministry Plan is where our conversations, meetings, prayers and ideas find a tangible result: a list of prioritized goals for Immanuel Lutheran Church & School.

The Immanuel Church Council will get a first look at the Plan at its September meeting. I will have a presentation on it at the September 29 Voters’ Assembly. But here’s a preview:

Our discussions over much of the last year have produced many ideas for evaluating, enhancing and adding to our ministries. These ideas have been grouped into six general themes called
Ministry Targets . The six Ministry Targets are these:

  1. We receive from God to empower our service to others
  2. We equip disciples of Christ to serve others
  3. We care for each other as a family
  4. We welcome the community to our campus
  5. We serve children and young families with God’s love and forgiveness
  6. We enhance and strengthen our ministries

Into these six categories our ideas have been organized, and out of these six categories have come both Staffing Needs (the people resources needed to carry out the Ministry Plan) and Campus Needs (the facilities needed to carry out the Ministry Plan ).

That’s a preview. For more, I invite you to attend the September 29 Voters’ Assembly. And as we get ever closer to taking the next step into our future as a congregation and school, I thank you again for your prayers and faithful presence and stewardship. Please continue to lend your time, talents and treasures to shaping the future of Immanuel Lutheran Church & School!

Pastor VanOsdol

Blog Note: New to Immanuel? Catch up on the entire VisionPath and Ministry Planning process to date, in chronological order, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.

A cross with the words ministry plan in the background.

Ministry Plan

 

Because our Planning Process has one name—and the various Steps in the Process have other names—for the sake of clarity the only name I will use in this update is the Ministry Plan. The Ministry Plan is a document that will be the product of the first two Steps of our Planning Process and will be used to guide our decision-making in the future.

The Ministry Plan is where our conversations, meetings, prayers and ideas find a tangible result: a list of prioritized Goals for Immanuel. I am working on this Plan with Pastor Brath and a few members of the congregation. The Immanuel Church Council viewed the work to-date at its May meeting.

While still a work-in-progress, the Plan is organized into various Goals: Campus, Christian Education, Fellowship, Financial, Human Care, Ministry, Outreach, School, Staffing and Worship. Each Goal has one or more Strategies to accomplish the Goal: these are activities and projects assigned to groups in the congregation. Some of the Strategies are in the future; some are already in process, like exploring Online Giving, Adding a Worship Service, Sunday Hospitality and School Connections. My goal is to have the Ministry Plan ready to present to the Congregation in June.

One Strategy already in process is work on a Master Site Plan for Immanuel Lutheran Church & School, to give us a glimpse of what the Immanuel campus could look like in the future and to determine the best usage of our property and resources. Immanuel’s Campus Team was set up as a subset of the Council to help ensure that a variety of viewpoints are considered as we move forward in this process. This Team consists of:

Dana Emberton, President
Dave Houghton, Vice President
Catherine Benecke, Christian Education
Dan Thelen, Finance
Dick Sunderman, Facilities
Jeff VanUffelen, Immanuel Lutheran School

After several meetings with local firm McMillan Pazdan Smith, the Campus Team has shared the latest with the Council and has invited the Lead Architect for our project to present the Site Plan to the congregation, fielding comments and answering questions. You are invited to be part of this Informational Meeting that will take place following the Divine Service on Sunday, June 2. (No votes will be taken at this meeting.)

The school year is about to end and Summer is set to begin, but there is still plenty going on around Immanuel as we step into our future. Thank you for your prayers and faithful presence and stewardship. Please continue to lend your time, talents and treasures to the shaping the future of Immanuel Lutheran Church & School!

Pastor VanOsdol

Blog Note: New to Immanuel? Catch up on the entire VisionPath and Ministry Planning process to date here, here, here, here, here, and here.