SLINGSHOT PRESENTS
Lead Pastor
Highrock MetroWest Church
Needham, Massachussetts
www.highrockmetrowest.org
THE STORY
MISSION & VISION
MetroWest is a vibrant spiritual community that worships, serves, eats, and laughs together.
The Story
Highrock began in 1999 around a dinner table. A small group of believers shared a dream for a church where people of all backgrounds, ages, and ethnicities could encounter Jesus. In time, this small group became a congregation, outgrowing several spaces in Cambridge and Somerville. In the Spring of 2006, Highrock set down roots in Arlington, the current site of our main campus.
Redeemer Community Church (RCC) also began in the homes of a small group of people who were passionate about a fresh experience of Christian community in MetroWest Boston. After launching in 2004, they moved from living rooms to worship spaces in Wellesley, then Needham.
In 2017, Highrock adopted RCC to create a dynamic and welcoming Christ-centered community with the aim of ministering specifically to those living in the MetroWest region.
The resulting campus, Highrock MetroWest, joins the diverse and growing spiritual network of congregations worshiping and serving in ten locations across Greater Boston and eastern Massachusetts.
VISION
“Transformation through Connecting with God Personally, God's People, and God's Purposes.”
All churches share the common call from God to fulfill the Great commandment (Matthew 22:36-40) and Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). In addition Highrock’s founders, leaders, and members have discerned God’s call as articulated in the following Vision Statement:
To see God transforming every neighborhood and institution in Greater Boston through locally-focused congregations who live and love in such a compelling and Christ-like way that our neighbors are challenged to seriously consider the claims of Christ, be reconciled to God, engage in Christian community, and serve others in the unique ways God designed them to, so that Boston becomes a “city on a hill” that will be a blessing to the world.
The Mission
Everything at Highrock is driven by a mission to cultivate a loving Christian community through which sinners are transformed individually and collectively into the Body of Christ by connecting with God Personally, with God's People, and with God's Purposes.
Connecting to God Personally
Continually drawn by God's love, filled by God's Spirit, shaped by God's Word, and attentive to God's presence, we worship the living God with our hearts, minds, souls, and strength above all else and in all else. This includes practicing praise, prayer, obedience, sacraments, Sabbath, study, service, singing, silence, confession, celebration, fasting, feasting, forgiving, thanksgiving, and seeking God's presence, power, and purposes in every aspect of our lives.
Connecting to God's People
Most of God's promises are made not to individuals, but to the collective Christian community called the Church, and apply to all who belong to her. In our uniqueness that results from diverse ethnicities, experiences, preferences, and perspectives, we are reconciled in Christ's one body by a love that compels us to confront, confess, comfort, counsel, and celebrate each other in God's name so that we might all grow in Christlikeness and reflect Christ to a world that longs to see Him still alive among them. We cannot love God, follow Christ, or fully preach the Gospel if we do not love one another, including our enemies. The primary context for individual spiritual growth and Gospel proclamation is Christian community. Through shared laughter, tears, prayers, experiences, and mutual submission, our relationships will become environments in which mutual dignity is protected, truth is shared, and forgiveness is sought, extended and received, resulting in repentance and reconciliation as we enter into the battle for each other's souls against the power of sin and death.
Connecting to God's Purposes
We continue God's work of creation and redemption of all creation in our worship, our work, and our relationships as we engage the world as servants of Christ, empowered, energized, and equipped even to suffer for the Gospel so that God's will "will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven," and in order to hasten the day when "every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of God the Father." As the body of Christ, we want God to do through our body the very kinds of things He did through Christ's body as we imitate our Lord's passion for the least, the lost, and the left out and the lonely. We have been created and called by God, and we want to use "whatever gifts we have received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms." We pray for and invite those who are estranged from our Savior and His Church to experience His Spirit alive in our community. Seeing our love for them and one another that transcends our differences and sins, they will get to taste of our Lord's own love, and long to enter into community, initially with us and ultimately with God Himself.
Denominational Affiliation
Highrock Church is a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church. The Evangelical Covenant Church seeks to form and nurture communities that are deeply committed to Jesus Christ and passionately engaged in Christ’s mission in the world.
The Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) is a rapidly growing multiethnic denomination in the United States and Canada with ministries on five continents of the world. Founded in 1885 by Swedish immigrants, the ECC values the Bible as the word of God, the gift of God's grace and ever-deepening spiritual life that comes through a faith with Jesus Christ, the importance of extending God's love and compassion to a hurting world, and the strength that comes from unity within diversity.
We are:
MetroWest MINISTRY AND CULTURE
Worship Service: Sundays at 9 AM
The Greendale Avenue Worship Center
754 Greendale Avenue, Needham, MA 02492.
The MetroWest campus of Highrock Church is healthy and excited about the future. An average of 200 attendees (including children) come together Sunday mornings to worship the risen Christ through contemporary music, a shared liturgy and Communion, followed by warm fellowship at SoulFood- a nourishing time of friendship and food. The preaching is strong and biblically centered, designed to have a strong relevance to cultural conversations. They are poised after the time of transition to reach their community with the good news of the Gospel. The congregation is made up mostly of mature believers and families, with a multi-ethnic make up, about half pan-Asian, and half Caucasian. They desire to see the church grow both in depth of discipleship and breadth of outreach.
Infants through Grade Five
Sunday mornings have exciting, kid-targeted programs for infants through 5th grade during our services. Groups are open for drop-off at 8:50am, and parent paging is available for peace of mind during worship.
Grades Six through Twelve
On Sundays, many teens serve in various areas of the church like children’s ministry, or worship, tech, welcoming, and hospitality ministries. In addition, leaders encourage high schoolers especially to be a part of the entire worship service so they can connect with the whole church. Sermons and other content are created to have direct relevance to the lives of teens.
Fellowship
After the service the congregation will often stay around and enjoy coffee and goodies in the Fellowship Hall. The congregation members love to get to know guests and introduce them to the wonderful and growing family. They call this ministry "Soulfood" and it does nourish the souls of all who become connected.
During the Week
There’s always something going on at Highrock. Many community groups have regular midweek gatherings, small groups meet during the week, and there are special events happening throughout the year.
LEADERSHIP
The leadership culture at Highrock Church is a unique, mutually submitted, highly collaborative community led by Dave Swaim. Raised just a few miles from Highrock, Dave is a local. Though he lived nine years in Virginia and two overseas, when he returned to Boston for graduate school he was home to stay. Dave and his wife Michelle started dating in high school, and they now have eleven children adopted from all over the world. Dave served several wonderful churches before coming to Highrock in 2000, but hopes to stay here forever. Highrock's leaders have a commitment to emotionally healthy spirituality and emotionally healthy relationships with God and each other. They believe that a strongly bonded staff team creates a Christian culture that others can latch onto, and that culture does more “ministry” than any program or person can.
The Lead Pastor of Highrock MetroWest will give leadership to a staff team including Pastors John Mury, Meghan DeJong and Ryan Marshall, as well as Doug Meppelink the High School Director, Michael Taber as Middle School Director and Grace Taber as Kidsrock Director. They are staffed to grow the church under the right leader.
CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY
Opportunities
Challenge
BOSTON AREA
With its rich history, diverse neighborhoods, and legacy of arts, culture, and education, Boston has something for everyone. From the American Revolution to the very first public school it's a city with stories to tell. Known as "America's Walking City" its got a small town feel with big city attributes.
Recreational activities range from spectator sports (World Champion Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics, Boston Marathon), sailing the Charles River, strolling the Freedom Trail of historic sites, or enjoying authentic New England dining at local restaurants.
Home to some of the world's most prestigious educational institutions, (Wellesley College is just one town over from Needham, MA) including Harvard University, Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT), Tufts University, Boston College, Brandeis University, etc. It is little wonder Boston was dubbed "The Athens of America!" Not surprisingly, the public and private education system is one of the best in the country.
Suburban Boston, where Highrock MetroWest is located, boasts a four-season a year climate, with warm summers, cold, wet winters, and a partly cloudy sky that keeps the temperatures more temperate near the coast.
Living in the city proper can be quite expensive, as are certain neighborhoods further out like Wellesley or Needham. But affordable housing is available within a short drive, and some expenses like healthcare are actually below the national average. Jobs are plentiful with unemployment a mere 4.2%, with professional and technical services, legal, health care and educational services making up large portions of the work force.
JOB PROFILE
Lead Pastor of Highrock MetroWest:
Reports to: Senior Pastor Dave Swaim
Directly Supervises: All MetroWest staff (currently 2 full time, 4 part time)
Status: Full Time
Essential Functions:
Core Responsibilities:
Spiritual, Relational and Emotional Health: Takes responsibility for appropriate self-care, spiritual nourishment, regular self-examination, confession and repentance. Keeps short accounts in relationships, can self-advocate, confront, confess, forgive and reconcile. Seeking an honest spiritual vitality characterized by the ongoing development of the fruit of the Spirit that others might choose to imitate.
Influencing Others: Encourages others to cooperate, participate, provide resources or make decisions, in service to the work at hand; uses verbal and nonverbal skills to communicate respect for others, and to generate energy passion and commitment to an idea; creates an environment that others want to participate in.
Mission Ownership: Demonstrates understanding and full support of the mission, vision, values and beliefs of the congregation; can demonstrate those values to others; consistently behaves in a manner congruent with the mission, vision, values and beliefs.
Team Orientation: demonstrates interest, skill and success in team environments; promotes group goals ahead of personal agendas; joyfully submits to Highrock’s senior pastor; actively participates in senior leadership team; steps up to offer self as a resource to other members of the team; understands and supports the importance of teamwork; shares credit for success with others, takes responsibility for his or her part in team failures.
Team Leadership: Able to inspire, equip and challenge those under supervision to work together well and become the best versions of themselves in order to serve Christ and the congregation. Meet regularly with staff for personal and group development as Christians, humans and pastors.
Strategic Management: Is future oriented and can visualize the larger picture of where the organization is heading; identifies and prioritizes strategic objectives that are consistent with the vision of the organization; creates effective breakthrough objectives to carry out strategies; balances risk with desired outcomes.
Hospitality/Accessibility: Generates a sense of hospitality and or accessibility by his or her very presence; communicates a sense of availability, warmth, openness and approachability; fosters natural connections between members of the congregation and with visitors; supports a culture of welcoming and connection in the life of the congregation.
Pastoral Care/Counseling: Demonstrates the ministry of presence; creates a spirit of openness that invites those who are spiritually or emotionally troubled to confide in her/him; demonstrates appropriate pastoral care boundaries, recognizing his or her own limitations as a care provider; respects confidences; appropriately refers congregants along to other professional care providers as warranted.
Teaching: Designs effective lesson plans and facilitates learning experiences in both small and large group settings; selects teaching topics that are relevant, provocative and contribute to a deeper understanding of scripture, theology and spiritual practice; uses a variety of teaching topics to maintain interest and build connection.
Spiritual Formation/Discipleship: Demonstrates an understanding of spiritual formation/ discipleship as journey or process; invites others into reflection about personal spiritual journey; teaches a variety of spiritual practices to lead others in deepening and developing spirituality; creates teaching and small group environments that promote discipleship.
Evangelism/Witness: Stands ready to communicate and spread a message of good news, based upon the congregation’s mission; articulates the message for members of the congregation, encouraging them to become evangelists and witnesses as well; supports a culture of evangelism, witness and ministry growth outside the walls of the congregation.
CONTACT
Ready to take the next step?
To find out additional information about Highrock MetroWest, please visit https://www.highrockmetrowest.org/ to discover their core beliefs, vision and to learn about many other ministries of the church.
If, after prayerfully reviewing this information, you sense this role and church culture could be a good fit for you, please contact Rich Kidd for further discussion.
Dr. Rich Kidd // 757.642.0622 // rkidd@slingshotgroup.org