Senior Pastor

ABOUT THE ROLE

Discovering Christ Church, a multi-generational congregation affiliated with the Alliance of Reformed Churches, looks forward to the arrival of its next Senior Pastor, who will breathe fresh life into its efforts to help more people discover and follow Christ.

Personal Qualifications—The Senior Pastor will:

• Fulfill the biblical qualifications for an Elder.
• Be able to give testimony to one’s love for the Lord and call to pastoral ministry.
• Have a deep passion to understand and teach the truths of God’s Word.
• Love people and be able to create and sustain positive relationships with them.
• Be characterized by emotional health, which leads to resilience despite inevitable disappointments.
• Be persistent while pursuing the mission of the church to help people discover and follow Christ.
• Have received formal training in pastoral ministry.
• Have experience in pastoral ministry, church revitalization, and organizational leadership.

Professional Competencies—The Senior Pastor will be gifted as a:

• Communicator, able to craft and deliver biblical and relevant sermons that effectively speak to both new and maturing Christians.
• Liturgist or worship planner, able to design and lead worship services for a multi-generational congregation that includes people at different levels of spiritual maturity.
• Shepherd whose care for the spiritual well-being of the congregation is characterized by love and humility.
• Leader whose guidance and direction of the congregation into a new season of life and ministry is characterized by wisdom and grace.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Preaching—the Senior Pastor is responsible for the bulk of the preaching and will do so in a manner that is both biblical and relevant.
• Corporate Worship—the Senior Pastor is responsible for planning and orchestrating worship services which are relevant and faithful to Scripture.
• Leadership—the Senior Pastor will guide and empower the Leadership Team and Staff in such a way that the congregation is unified around a shared vision for the future.
• Discipleship—the Senior Pastor will raise disciple-making disciples who grow to become more like Jesus.
• Pastoral Care—the Senior Pastor will assure timely pastoral care for those seeking baptism, marriage, healing, encouragement, and spiritual direction.
• Public Presence—the Senior Pastor will represent the congregation in the community and denomination.

Expectations—The Senior Pastor will:

• Meet or exceed the requirements for ordination as a Minister of the Word in the Alliance of Reformed Churches. Consequently, the ideal candidate will be ordained or be ordainable as such, though ordained individuals from other historically Reformed denominations will be considered.
• Support the Leadership Team of Discovering Christ Church.
• Affirm the Creeds and Confessions of the ARC.
• Affirm a biblical view of marriage, gender, and human sexuality.

Supervisory Relationships:

• The Senior Pastor reports to and is accountable to the Leadership Team.
• The Elders supervise the life and doctrine of the Senior Pastor.
• The Lead Pastor supervises the Staff.

ABOUT THE CHURCH

Discovering Christ Church (DCC) is a multi-generational congregation dedicated to living out its mission of helping people discover and follow Jesus. Formerly known as the Fifth Reformed Church, this congregation has been advancing the Kingdom of God since 1907. Most recently, the congregation has been led by Pastor Scott VanArendonk, who retired in 2026 after ten years of faithful service. The campus is located north of Muskegon in Dalton Township.

The ministry of the church is founded upon the authority of Scripture and supported by the persistent prayers of a generous congregation. The ministry leaders of the church are led by the Spirit and have been graced with a teachable spirit and humility. The ministry is supported by an expansive, functional, and well-maintained campus.

The church is at a crossroads. Like many congregations in America, DCC includes a devoted group of senior citizens who would like to see the church grow younger. The leadership of the church affirms that dream but recognizes that, if this desire is to be realized, the church will need to leave behind some of its ways of doing ministry and implement strategic initiatives designed to reach the next generation of believers. Consequently, they envision a season of change by a united congregation GATHERING as the family of God, GROWING by faith in Jesus, and GOING as followers of Jesus in mission.