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presents

STUDENT PASTOR at
​GRACE CHURCH

ORLANDO, FL

discovergrace.com/orlando

HISTORY & CURRENT STATUS


Grace was planted by current Senior Pastor Mike Adkins and his wife, Kelly, in 2003. It’s grown over the last 19 years from a church with a few dozen people meeting in a rented community center to one that is home to about 5,000 people in three local campuses, plus thousands more online.

Grace is a healthy and rapidly growing church. Through covid, they pivoted to increase their online presence, which has helped them reach people in a city that has experienced a large amount of church hurt due to failed leaders, poor organizational decisions, and sin in an alarmingly large number of local churches.

39%

Grace has grown to 39% ABOVE their pre-pandemic attendance (2019 vs 2022).


This growth is occurring at each of the three campuses and is causing them to grow their team and their systems. They are seeing long-term staff transition into new leadership roles and are continuing to add new leaders to support the ministry.

As a result, Grace is transitioning from a staff of ministry area generalists to ministry area experts. They believe their greatest strength is their strong culture and identity and their greatest challenge is maintaining and rebuilding systems and processes to replicate and reproduce this culture.

GRACE MISSION

We’re here to help people take their next step toward Christ.

We teach the Bible to change the present, we heal people from the past, and we point to hope for the future.

HOUSE RULES


Read more about the House Rules here.


LEADERSHIP

Lead Pastor, Mike Adkins

Pastor Mike Adkins is the founding and Senior Pastor of Grace Church. He has more than 30 years of Christian leadership experience, from leading an AIDS ministry to developing counseling and care programs to preaching and planting Grace in 2003. He holds degrees from Wheaton College and Reformed Theological Seminary. He married his wife Kelly almost 30 years ago; they have three children, Clayton, Connor, and Katy Claire.

Pastor Mike leads with grace and truth. His unconventional background — including not growing up as a Christian and initially pursuing both psychology and medicine before ministry — brings a fresh perspective to his teaching and work. He is a passionate and unique communicator who integrates theology, philosophy, and psychology into messages that bring the truth and healing of scripture to both Christians and non-Christians in clear ways. He also leads the staff with both vision and grace, and is an example and encouragement to many.

To learn more about the ministry at Grace, click HERE.


GRACESTUDENTS APPROACH

Gracestudents is a healthy ministry. They are seeing numerical growth as more students engage each weekend, and new students and families are plugging in. They are also seeing spiritual growth as more students take their next step in serving during Student Sunday Nights and in various roles during weekend worship (i.e., Gracekids, Creative tech, Guest services, etc.).

There is a healthy volunteer team that consistently serves each weekend and is bought into the mission of partnering with parents to help students take a next step toward Christ. There is a lot of buy-in from parents, as demonstrated by parent events. 

MISSION

The mission of Gracestudents is to partner with parents to help students take their next step toward Christ. Grace understands that parents are the primary influence in the lives of their students. Because of that, they believe that spiritual growth happens best when the church and the family work together. Grace partners with parents to provide tools and solid biblical truth inside and outside the church.

As Grace partners with parents and equips them to be the primary spiritual leaders for their kids during the week, they believe that age-appropriate family ministry – with ministry designed uniquely for students at various ages– is the best approach to supplement that spiritual growth on the weekends.

Student Sunday Nights | 7th-12th Grades

Students are invited every Sunday night at the Orlando campus from 5:00p-7:00p for Student Sunday Nights, where students come together to worship, learn, and discuss how to apply faith to real life in small groups. Each night starts with fun games followed by worship, teaching, and small group discussion.

Gracestudents 56 | 5th-6th Grades

This unique environment for 5th and 6th grade students helps bridge the transition from elementary to middle and high school. Students take a more mature look at Bible stories and topics and are invited to ask deep questions about faith. Students start in the adult service with their families and are dismissed after the first portion of the service to go to their groups.

Highly Invested Teams

Gracestudents is powered by amazing volunteers who are committed to the work of reaching and leading the next generation. Highly engaged adults create meaningful experiences every week. Gracestudents sets a high bar of ownership and engagement for volunteer teams.

Church Impact

Gracestudents is very valued at Grace. The whole church sees its impact, not only on the church's growth, but also on the lives of families. Each ministry area supports Gracestudents with their own unique gifts and talents. For example, the Worship and Production team helps provide staffing support with a Sunday night worship band and creative tech.


CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY

COLLABORATOR

The new Gracestudents Director at the Orlando campus will have the opportunity to collaborate across many teams, including their volunteer team, the Orlando staff, network Family Ministry staff, and Gracestudents staff at other campuses. Collaboration within these teams will be critical. The new leader will be expected to foster a culture of collaboration where staff and teams serve one another and grow better together.

TEAM BUILDER

The Gracestudents team at Orlando has some amazing volunteers leading throughout the ministry. With the recent growth and so much opportunity ahead, Grace needs a strong team builder who can lead current volunteers and recruit and expand the volunteer team. The Gracestudents Orlando Director should be able to cast a compelling vision and empower volunteers to lead at a high level. They also need to have a 30,000-foot view of the entire ministry and support all areas of the ministry as needed.

LEADER OF LEADERS

As Grace continues to grow, it is imperative the Student Pastor builds a ministry structure that is scalable to grow with the church. This primarily happens through the recruitment, training, and sustaining of the Gracestudents staff and volunteer teams.

Because of the size, scope, and growth, it is imperative that the new Student Pastor come in with the knowledge that a good portion of their time will be spent with other Gracestudents staff and the volunteer leaders in student ministry. Time with students is always desired (and should be modeled), but the realistic expectation for this new hire is that they will equip and empower leaders for relational ministry with students.

DYNAMIC COMMUNICATOR

The new Student Pastor will have the ability to effectively communicate to students. They will also take responsibility for developing a teaching team for 5th/6th and 7th-12th. There is an opportunity to impact all campuses by partnering with Gracestudents staff from other campuses to write and edit curriculum under the direction of the Family Ministry Pastor.


LOCATION & DEMOGRAPHICS

The church is located in the northern area of greater-Orlando. This is one of the fastest-growing communities in Florida. New families are moving into the area every week.

Orlando, Florida, is called “The City Beautiful”, and has almost 2.5 million people in the greater Orlando area (the 24th largest metropolitan area in the USA). Orlando is well known as the theme park capital of the world. However, the city boasts many other great amenities, including beaches all around Florida, sporting events, concerts, and fine dining. Orlando is also home to the University of Central Florida – the largest university campus in the United States.

Orlando is a diverse community full of native Floridians and transplants from around the world. Various industries are growing in Central Florida, including tourism, national defense, and healthcare. The weather is warm and comfortable all year round. Orlando is a great place to raise a family.

Central Florida is known for its theme parks and world-destination entertainment, but Orlando and its surrounding suburbs are very different from the places that tourists see! Orlando is creative, young, and diverse, with a fantastic culture for arts and education. Oviedo has been named among the best small cities in which to live in the country.

Our city is large but often feels very small, with dozens of districts and main streets forming hubs for smaller communities. There is something for everyone, from young families to singles to retirees. Living here is the best of both worlds — homey suburban or urban neighborhoods for everyday life, with a quick drive to have dinner at some of the most magical places in the world.

POSITION PROFILE

STUDENT PASTOR ORLANDO CAMPUS

REPORTS TO: Family Pastor & Orlando Development Pastor

RELATES TO: Grace Family Ministry Staff

This is a Full-time salaried position.

The Orlando Students Pastor will be the primary leader of the Gracestudents team. As the primary communicator of Gracestudents, they will carry the vision of Grace and Family Ministry to the staff, volunteers, parents and students of Gracestudents Orlando and will be responsible for partnering with parents and developing a safe and engaging environment for students to take their next steps toward Christ.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

Program Development

  • Student Sunday Nights (7th-12th grade specific programming)
    • Plan, coordinate, and execute Student Sunday Nights at Orlando
    • Take responsibility for weekly teaching and the ongoing development of a teaching team
    • Oversee, develop, and train Sunday night coaches and volunteers
  • Gracestudents 56 (5th & 6th grade specific programming)
    • Plan and coordinate Gracestudents 56 programming
    • Take responsibility for weekly teaching and the ongoing development of a teaching team
    • Oversee Gracestudents 56 coaches and volunteers
  • Senior Life Prep Program (Programming helping High School Seniors prepare for graduation)
    • Oversee ministry details and team of communicators and mentors
    • Recruit mentors, communicators, volunteers, and Seniors
  • Additional programs
    • Oversee additional programs including campus specific Bible studies and classes

Team Development

  • Recruit and oversee onboarding of new volunteers
  • Recruit, manage and lead Gracestudents coaches
  • Oversee care for Orlando Gracestudents staff and volunteers

Events

  • Plan and coordinate details for campus specific Gracestudents events
  • Work with the Family Ministry team in planning, coordinating, and executing camp details
  • Work with other campuses to plan, coordinate and execute all-campus events
  • Manage budget for events

Parent Partnership

  • Develop and maintain regular parent connection and communication
  • Equip volunteers to effectively partner with parents
  • Provide support and care for parents and families

Family Ministry

  • Work with the Family Ministry team in planning and coordinating parenting events
  • Attend weekly Gracestudents and Family Ministry meetings
  • Work with Family Ministry team to facilitate student baptisms

Team Grace

  • Develop and maintain a presence at local middle and high school(s)
  • Work with other campus staff to write and edit Gracestudents’ curriculum under the direction of the Family Ministry Pastor
  • Develop and maintain regular parent connection and communication
  • Maintain communication presence on Slack with teams
  • Attend all required staff meetings, annual retreats, and parties
  • Complete weekly reports

Necessary Skills & Requirements

  • Bachelor’s degree and 5+ years of experience
  • Active walk with Christ and consistently exhibiting Christ-like character
  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
  • Strong communicator and teacher
  • Demonstrate the ability to collaborate and communicate with other leaders
  • Ability to organize, supervise and lead staff, volunteers, students, and parents

CONTACT

Ready to take the next step?

To find out more about GRACE CHURCH, please check out their website at discovergrace.com and learn more about their doctrinal beliefs, vision and values and the many other ministries of the church.

If after a thorough look at these documents, you sense that this would be a good fit for you, please contact:

Nick Blevins // 410.952.3555 / [email protected]