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Full Job Description
Houston's First Baptist Church was founded in 1841 by foreign missionaries who had come from the United States of America to the sovereign Republic of Texas. The church has continued to be a place on mission from its humble roots.
Located in Downtown Houston until 1977, the church moved under the leadership of Pastor John Bisagno to what is now known as The Loop Campus (located at interchange of I-10 and the 610 Loop). Pastor John retired in 2000 and Gregg Matte became the Senior Pastor in 2004 after a nearly four-and-a-half year search.
Houston's First has continued to grow and as a church they seek new ways to reach people in the fourth largest city in the United States. In addition to The Loop, three campuses have been added throughout the greater Houston area - Cypress, Downtown, and Sienna. The Loop Campus averages about 4000 in weekly attendance whereas all the campuses combined are in the neighborhood of 7000 in combinded weekly attendance.
The heart of the leadership of Houston's First is on display fulltime! It is evident they desire to reach the surrounding communities with the love and grace found in Jesus. Their up-to-date buildings are used for everything from bible studies to fitness (including a gymnasium, fitness center and even a bowling alley)! The people of Houston's first are equipped with practical and relevant teaching from God's Word and the congregation is challenged to live it out everyday of the week in their workplace, schools, families and places of interest.
Coming full circle from their start, they are known for their many local and global missions efforts and partnerships, as well as being invested in targeted ministries designed to meet people where they are. The Loop campus has a specific area designed for a growing ministry to special needs, in addition to specialilzed ministry to single parents, blended families, and adoptive and foster families. In addition, the church currently has two Faith Centers which serve in-need areas with ESL classes, food pantries, clothes closets, and more.
The church is launching a search for a Middle School Minister who has this same heart and passion to reach others and to build a transforming community!
STUDENT MINISTRY APPROACH
WHAT IS THE HUB?
The HUB serves and ministers to Students (6th–12th grade) and their parents. They seek to provide opportunities for students to connect with one another and Jesus through Life Bible Study, weekly gatherings, mission trips, fun events, and with adult leaders.
As a ministry, everything they do is to help students have King Hearts and live Kingdom Lives.
They seek to connect teenagers to God, to each other, and to adults who are passionate about making a godly impact on their lives. Leadership seeks to create engaging and relational environments for those in middle school and high school. It focuses on creating large and small group settings for all ages through activities, worship, teaching and relationships.
WELCOMING
One of the desires for the HUB is to create a place where all students (whether coming from a church background or not) are loved and cared for by staff and leaders who express Christ’s love to them and help them to better understand the Gospel. The ministry is always seeking to reach those who don't know Jesus and help mature those who do have a relationship with Jesus.
VALUED WELL
Houston's First places high value on the Student Ministry. The church is equipped with ample resources to create environments for all to have a blast. All campuses have student-staff members and spaces uniquely designed for students to build community and engage spiritually.
Sunday mornings at the HUB is designed for students to engage in grade and gender based small groups, where they discuss lifes issues and apply God's Word to their lives.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR GROWTH
The student ministry has a fantastic history to build upon and is primed for growth moving forward. Students are engaged in the weekly programming, jumping into leadership opportunities and making a difference in their community through service projects, camps and missions.
CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITY
VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP
As the middle school ministry continues to grow it is imperative that the new Minister designs and recruits for a leadership structure that is scalable. The student ministry has volunteers, but the group must be assessed, built into, built up (new recruits) and become more equipped to meet the masses.
The small group leaders in the middle school age group need to seek ways to “do life” with the students. This includes attendance at sporting events, school performances and other extra-curricular activities. The desire is to see the volunteer leaders grow in connecting throughout the week with students and/or parents to grow relationships.
CONNECTOR
The new Middle School Minister should be a person who is highly relational and loves to connect with students, leaders and parents. In addition to having great upfront gifts/skills the new leader should have the ability to "work the room" and help everyone feel seen, known and connected.
This new leader will need to be connected to his team in such a way that he knows how to put the right people in the right places so that on any given Sunday (or Wednesday) ministry runs smoothly with whomever is upfront.
CONSISTENCY
The Middle School Ministry is very stable and growing. The new leader should look to keep the consistency with what has brought success while also understanding he'll have the freedom to bring his own creativity to the table as he works with other staff to implement new ideas. It will take time to build relational equity, but a relational leader will then have freedom to make the necessary tweaks that are consistent with the anticipated growth.
TEAM
The Middle School Minister will be joining a super talented team in the Hub. This team has a good balance of new and experienced personnel. The team is united in spirit and has a lot of fun together. The work atmosphere is driven and led by Tony Bianco, the Student Minister. Tony is collaborative, creative and fun. He has a shepherd's heart even with his Staff and will work hard to make sure everyone feels part of the team. He is highly strategic and organized and wants others around him to be so as well.
Tony and the team know they need differences as well. They seek to be "one body, many parts" (1 Cor. 12). So the new leader should bring his own gifts, skills, talents and thoughts to the table and speak into the overall ministry (while also being a great listener).
GENERAL PROFILE OF THE ROLE
Job Description:
Summary of Position: The Middle School Minister is responsible for creating and casting vision to the High School Students (6th-8th) while remaining under the umbrella of The HUB Student Ministry vision cast by the Student Minister. This person must be able to plan effective events, mission trips, and experiences for this age group that points students to Jesus. They must also organize and coordinate roles and responsibilities of adult volunteers for Life Bible Study, Wednesday Night activities, and other events involving these students. The Middle School Minister must also be active in ministering to the parents of middle school students so that they can feel equipped to disciple and develop their student in growing with Jesus through the NextGen model, Grow@Home.
Purpose: To give leadership and structure to The HUB’s ministry to Middle School Students and their families. This is best accomplished by working closely with the Student Minister and team to accomplish The HUB Student Ministries vision to see students Gather, Grow, Give and Go in order to see students have King Hearts and live Kingdom Lives.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Work closely with the Student Minister to keep his vision and direction of the Student Ministry consistent across all grades.
Dream for Middle School Students to come to know Christ, grow in their walk with Him, and then be equipped to go out and advance His Kingdom daily
Equip parents of Middle School age students with opportunities to learn how to disciple their student through the NextGen Grow@Home Model
Be available to counsel families and individual Middle School students
Coordinate and execute programming on Wednesday and Sunday’s (Life BibleStudy)
Lead and direct volunteers behind the vision and goals of The HUB Student Ministry
Cultivate community with adult leaders & volunteers
Be involved in Middle School students and families lives outside of the church building i.e. Campus Ministry, extracurricular activities, lunches, etc.
Work well with all Student Ministry team members and Houston’s First Staff
Organize and lead students in leadership growth and training within the vision of The HUB Student Ministry
Build on-ramps for The HUB Student Ministry to be active and involved in High School’s across Houston
Coordinate, plan, and execute The HUB Missions Pathway in association with our multisite Student Ministries.
Facilitate meetings for special events, camps, retreats, and weekly services
Partner with the Student Minister to develop new areas of growth and experiences for Middle School Students
Preach weekly or involve others to do so
Have a passion for students that drives tasks
This job description is not all-inclusive and can be modified verbally and in writing by the position supervisor.