Worship Pastor

Calvary Simpsonville

We are a growing mid-size congregation (700 members) in Simpsonville, SC that seeks to be Christ-centered and Community-oriented in all that we do. The family here is made up of people of all ages and walks of life that genuinely love Christ, His Word, and one another. We also love to sing! We're eager to find the man that God has appointed to join our team and help lead the people of Calvary in Worship of our great King!

The Worship Pastor we're looking for will be responsible for providing spiritual, musical, and organizational leadership for the church's worship ministry. This role will cultivate a multi-generational worship culture that unifies all walks of life in praising our amazing God in spirit and truth. We envision that he will shepherd and disciple worship team members, develop emerging worship leaders, and provide oversight for the musical, theological, and production elements of corporate worship. This individual should possess a deep love for Jesus and His Church, a strong biblical foundation, musical excellence, relational leadership skills, and a passion for people.

Pastoral

Demonstrate a vibrant and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and a desire to shepherd His Church.

Develop and lead a worship ministry that intentionally serves children, students, young adults, families, and senior adults.

Spiritually shepherd the members of the worship ministry specifically through prayer, encouragement, biblical teaching, and personal relationships.

Demonstrate the ability to lead people with different generations, backgrounds, personalities, and musical

experiences.

Have a desire to invest in the next generation by showing intentionality in collaborating with the youth music ministry.

Collaborate with pastoral staff and other ministry leaders in planning church- wide services and special events.

Musical

Thoughtfully incorporate a wide variety of culturally relevant songs.

Encourage genuine congregational worship over performance.

Demonstrate and develop musical competency appropriate for leading a church worship ministry.

Evaluate songs, services, creative elements, and worship practices through a biblical and theological lens.

Encourages God-given gifts and appropriate creative expressions of congregational worship, including songwriting, choirs, prayer, scripture readings, liturgies, poetry and other worship elements for the building up of the body of Christ guided by biblical wisdom and discernment.

Administrative

Provide ongoing training to continually develop the skills and chemistry of the worship team.

Develop and maintain worship ministry calendars, schedules, rehearsals, and service plans using PlanningCenter.

Provide leadership and oversight in all elements of worship through a competency in audio and visual technology and programs like ProPresenter.

Recruit, schedule, and communicate with worship team members and volunteers.

Establish clear expectations, ministry policies, and procedures for worship ministry participation.

Assist with developing and managing the worship ministry budget.

Coordinate worship ministry resources, music, equipment, and personnel.

Desired Qualifications

Demonstrates experience developing worship teams and emerging leaders.

Relevant experience leading worship with a full band in a local church setting is preferred.

Strong vocal and/or instrumental musical abilities.

Understanding of modern worship services and AVL technology.

Possess a strong understanding of biblical worship and Christian theology.

Willing to work with multiple generations within a church community.

Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Ministry Philosophy

The Worship Pastor should understand that his ministry is fundamentally about leading God’s people in worship of Him, not simply organizing services. Musical excellence, biblical theology, and production quality should work together to serve the church's mission of glorifying God and forming faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. The goal is to cultivate a worship ministry where every generation has a place, every team member is being discipled, every element is biblically grounded, and every service is prepared with excellence and humility.

All candidates should carefully review Calvary Simpsonville's Philosophy of Worship, included below, as it defines the theological and philosophical framework this role is expected to lead from — including its section on singing, which shapes how songs are chosen and evaluated.

Philosophy of Worship

PURPOSE

God is worthy of worship and is seeking worshippers. Our whole life is to be a sacrifice of worship, yet God also calls us to a pattern of gathering in community for intentional corporate worship. Among other things,

our presence in his presence helps us:

1. To magnify His greatness and glory.

2. To remember His gospel.

3. To remind us of what is true according to His Word.

4. To learn how to live in the Spirit.

5. To have occasion to enjoy, love, and serve one another.

6. To show the world our love for God and for each other.

7. To increase our longing for our eternal home with Him!

(Psalm 18:3; John 4:23; Rom. 12:1; Heb. 10:24-25; 1 Cor. 15:1; Mt. 6:10; John 13:34-35; Psalm 90:14)

ELEMENTS

The Bible paints a remarkably flexible picture of new covenant worship that would allow the gospel to flourish across many times and cultures. God’s people are encouraged to express worship in a variety of ways and with a variety of instruments (Eph. 5:19; Ps. 150). There’s no set service order or outline, no prescribed music style or liturgy. Each corporate worship service is a chance to gather the people of God around the word of God creatively and wisely, and through many different means: 

Preaching (2 Timothy 4:2)

Praying (1 Timothy 2:1,8)

Singing (Colossians 3:16)

Reading scripture (1 Timothy 4:13)

Communion at the Lord’s Table (1 Cor. 11:23-34)

If wisdom commends it, and scripture doesn’t condemn it, we are free to use any element that exhorts our people to love God and to love each other with greater fervor.

SINGING

God commands us to sing together, and what we sing declares what we know about God, shares how we feel about God, and shapes what we believe about God. We sing to God, and we sing to each other about God. Singing is one of the main ways we “let the word of Christ dwell in us richly.” (Colossians 3:16)

Putting songs on the lips of our people is a great and weighty responsibility. We work hard to curate a canon of songs that have excellent:

1. Music - with melodies that are beautiful, memorable,

singable, and relevant to the styles of

our generation. (Psalm 33:1-3)

2. Poetry - with lyrics that inspire both mind and heart in

fresh, artful, and unforgettable ways.

(Eccl. 12:9-11)

3. Theology - with words that are true and clear and rich with

biblical meaning. (John 4:23; Matthew 6:7-8)

We seek songs that push past mere human emotion to stir deep Godward affections, driven primarily by lyrics and enhanced by music.

ENVIRONMENT

Surroundings should serve our purposes in worship. Lighting, sound, video, decor, seating should help our people express their praise to God and their love for God to each other. The voices of the congregation are the primary instrument of corporate worship, so the room should be tuned to make that instrument prominent and visible and clear. (Col. 3:16)

EXPRESSION

We want to encourage our people to worship God with their whole selves. Worship starts in the mind and moves to the heart, but rarely stops there. The Bible suggests many ways we can show our love for God physically. (Psalm 47:1; 63:4; 95:6; 149:1-3)

We want to create a safe place where people can freely and truly express themselves in worship: enhancing while not distracting, calling attention to God and not to self, decently and in order while unrestrained and filled with delight. (Mt. 15:7-9; Malachi 1:10-14; 1 Corinthians 14:40)

LEADERSHIP

Corporate worship should be led by gifted, qualified, and Spirit-filled leaders. They must exhibit Spirit fruit and possess the character of a sanctified life and the competence of a skilled artist. God gives his people gifts. Leaders discern those gifts and organize them into teams and choirs that endeavor to rightly ascribe His worth, and create compelling moments of worship for God’s people. (2 Chron. 34:12; Romans 12:3-8; 1 Pt. 4:10)