Assistant Pastor Position

Who are we?

Beech Hill Church are a family with a mission. We’re a church that’s united by our love for Jesus, and a passion to see Him known and loved all across our area of Yorkshire.

We’re a church of roughly 100 people (though you’ll never find us all there any one week! On a Sunday morning we’re around 70) We’re made of a mixture of ages, colours, backgrounds, and traditions.

The church has seen significant growth in recent times, having seen our morning congregation almost triple in the last five years.

Many of us live in Otley, but quite a few are from Burley-in-Wharfedale, Ilkley and further afield. We’re probably a bit younger than you might expect for a church founded in 1916- about a quarter of our church are under 18.

Two things really mark us out as a fellowship:

• The first is community: It’s often hard to get people out of the building at the end of a meeting, and people meet up in the week to chat about life and faith.
•  The second is the Bible: We love God’s Word because we love God. The Bible plays a central role in our church’s life.

What happens at Beech Hill Church?

We have lots going on in our church life. The focus of our week is Sunday Morning. We have Sunday Morning Meetings with Children’s Groups for 0-6s and 7-11s. We also have Sunday Evenings Meetings with various different formats.

Midweek we have a toddler group called Tots and Toys, Home Groups in Otley and Ilkley, and a no-frills Bible Study called Wednesday@2. Fortnightly we have Meeting Point, an evangelistic coffee morning, and a Monday Night Teens Group.

Quarterly we have groups for men and women which meet on a Saturday Morning. Each half term we run an event for children.

Some of these ministries are quite new and there is lots to get involved in.

Who are we looking for?

Character

• Has a genuine love for people characterised by the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5.22-23): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
• Meets the biblical qualifications for eldership/pastoral ministry (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9), including being “above reproach,” “the husband of but one wife” (i.e. a one-woman man, whether married or not), temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, and not quarrelsome or a lover of money.
• Has a heart for evangelism, discipleship, and ministry across all age groups.
• Puts humility before honour (Proverbs 15.33)
• Understands that wisdom comes from the fear of the Lord (Proverbs 3.5-7)
• Understands that all people are equal under God (Gal.3.28) and demonstrates that
• Has a good listening ear.

Convictions

• Can demonstrate a clear commitment to Beech Hill’s Statement of Faith and Doctrinal Distinctives. As an FIEC church we also subscribe to the FIEC Ethos Statements, and we would expect any applicant to agree with them.

What skills and knowledge should you have?

Competences, Attributes and Qualifications

• Has had some form of theological training (e.g. theological degree, recognised ministry apprenticeship, or pastoral training course).
• Can show proven experience, competence and maturity in preaching, teaching, and pastoral ministry.
• Has the ability to work collaboratively in a team under the leadership of the Senior Pastor and alongside the other elders.
• Has the appropriate emotional resilience that accompanies church ministry
• Holds a current, clear DBS check (or is willing and eligible to obtain one at the appropriate level, such as enhanced without barred list for trustees, or enhanced with barred list if the role involves regulated activity with children or vulnerable adults) appropriate to the church’s safeguarding requirements.
• Is legally eligible and in a position to become a church trustee
• Possesses or is willing to attain, in the first year, a driving licence, given our semi-rural setting.

What does the role involve?

Key Responsibilities

Leadership

• Serve as a full member of the Eldership, contributing to spiritual oversight, decision-making, and the overall direction of the church.
• Act as a Trustee of the church charity, ensuring faithful stewardship in line with our charitable objects.
• Exercise leadership collaboratively with the Senior Pastor and other Elders, respecting the principle of key decisions being made together with the church membership.
• Work under the direction of the Senior Pastor in the day-to-day working and operation of the church. Administrative elements will factor in, but every attempt will be made to keep them to a minimum.

Preaching

• Preach regularly at Beech Hill Church on a Sunday morning and evening as part of a programme agreed upon by the Senior Pastor and other Elders.
• Preach occasionally at other churches in the area, providing them with support and visibly demonstrating our partnership in the Gospel.
• Preach occasionally at other events and settings such as Care Home Services and evangelistic events.

Teaching

• Take responsibility for key aspects of the church’s biblical teaching as agreed with the Senior Pastor and other Elders.
• Contribute to all areas of adult teaching (including leading Sunday services, home groups, and evangelistic courses), faithfully and clearly expositing the Scriptures.

Pastoring

• Demonstrate love for others by sound biblical counsel, visitation, practical care, and discipleship.
• Teach, train, rebuke and reprove others on an individual basis as appropriate to the situation, using the Scriptures in a loving manner.

What could I get involved in?

There are many areas of church life to get involved in:

Children’s & Youth Work

• Jelly Beans (postal craft and Bible story club for 3-6 year olds with 17 children signed up, but quite labour intensive)
• Cool Beans (occasional craft and Bible mornings for primary-aged children which we would like to grow further).
• School Assemblies (fortnightly at one local school, and less frequently at another)
• Pioneers (youth group for 11-16s and older teens, currently not running).
• Miniature Heroes/Heroes (our two Sunday morning Sunday school groups for 0-11s)
• Tots & Toys (our toddler group which our Senior Pastor currently regularly attends).

Groups for Adults

• Home Groups (midweek Bible study and fellowship groups across Otley, Ilkley/ Burley-in-Wharfedale with a possibility of more groups starting).
• Courses (Christianity Explored or similar evangelistic courses, discipleship and other potential courses).
• Young Adults (currently no formal group, but much scope for development).
• Wednesday@2 (our weekly no frills daytime Bible Study, small but could be developed)

Evangelism

• Otley Carnival (annually we have a stall at Otley Carnival which we use for outreach to the local community)
• Otley Victorian Fayre (our building is part of the temporarily pedestrianised part of the Fayre. We transform our building into a Victorian Arcade and welcome people in)
• Meeting Point (a new fortnightly outreach coffee morning)
• Men’s Evangelism (an area we want to develop)
• Market Outreach (Otley has a regular market and we have, on occasion, hired a stall, this is something we would like to do more regularly)
• Evangelism Training (Equipping individuals to take the Gospel to their friends and neighbours)

Music

• Music on Sunday (we currently have a small number of regular musicians, and the beginnings of some music groups)