LEADERSHIP

Willow Creek believes the church is to be led by a plurality of godly leaders. By relying on consensual agreement of godly Elders selected from the congregation, the church creates a healthy checks-and-balances of leadership direction, financial accountability, spiritual guidance, and ministry implementation.

Willow Creek implements these biblical principles in its leadership structure. A strategy of biblically based policies and guidelines within its Elder board and ministry leaders guides ministry decisions and ensures that a healthy, God-honoring implementation of leadership and pastoral care is carried out.

Willow Creek’s Elders provide spiritual oversight, direction, and leadership for the church, entrusting the implementation of that direction to ministry leaders and staff, under the leadership of the lead pastor. Senior staff leadership is held accountable for fulfilling the Elder board’s direction. This system of organizational leadership, known as Policy Governance, allows the Elders to focus their gifts and time on their biblical mandate to lead and shepherd the church, while allowing ministry leaders (staff) the opportunity to maximize their gifts and talents as they lead their ministries and make practical decisions on how to implement and carry out the direction provided by the Elders. 

The church is currently conducting a search for their next Senior Pastor and the staff has gone through restructuring to better align for a more collaborative model.

CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY

STUDENT LEADERSHIP CHANGES

Willow Creek Church is seeking a strong leader who is both collaborative and visionary. This person will have the ability to develop leaders, cast vision and implement strategies that will promote growth within the Student Impact Ministry. The overall Student Ministry at Willow Creek has changed in the last year with two long-term veteran staff members moving to take on new roles. The new high-capacity Student Impact Director will inherit the normal challenges that go with these changes but will have the opportunity to help shape and define the path forward.

GROWTH AND DIVERSITY

The new Student Impact Director will need to adapt and create strategies to serve the families attending Willow Creek while keeping his or her eye on those they are not yet reaching. As many of the area schools become more and more diverse, a focus on staffing team members (paid and volunteer) to meet this need will also become a focus. A typical Sunday house-group is becoming more filled with greater diversity (race, gender, socioeconomics, church background, etc.) and leaders should be recruited (and trained) to sustain this pattern and meet future growth needs.

COLLABORATIVE LEADER

The Student Ministry at the the South Barrington Campus has some amazing staff leading middle and high school students. With multiple paid staff in the "next-gen" lane, Willow Creek needs a strong team player to contribute and specifically a team builder for the high school segment of the ministry who can continue to recruit and develop a paid and volunteer team for all areas of the high school ministry. The team (paid and volunteer) is large and diverse but must continue to grow in number and ability. The new leader should have the skills to lead collaboratively but also effectively train in areas where the team needs to improve.

OUTWARD FACED: PROXIMITY MATTERS

Willow Creek Community Church is an outreach focused church. The expectation for the High School Pastor is to continue to place an emphasis on outreach and reaching those who do not yet know Jesus. In addition, the new leader should equip adults who will engage students outside the walls of Willow Creek. It should not be uncommon for Student Impact members to show support and engage by attending sporting events, musical performances and drama productions. The Student Impact Director should lead this charge by setting the example for others to follow. The phrase "proximity matters" (being present with students) was uttered several times as the Impact team met to discuss the future of the ministry.

SERVICE AND TRANSFORMATION

Willow Creek is driven by the desire to see lives transformed by Jesus. A significant percentage of the high school students are serving in the church through the kids ministry. In addition, students are quick to register for missions and service opportunities. The Church has a reputation for being generous with their time and resources and it is believed that this core value of generosity is instilled at a young age. Serving in community helps transform lives, the new Impact Director can lead in this area by providing an increase in service opportunities for students.

GENERAL JOB DESCRIPTION

Reporting Relationships

Position:          Student Impact Director

Reports to:      Mike Shintani (Next Gen Director)

Supervises:      Operations Director, Music Director, Creative Director, Youth Pastors

Relates to:       All Willow Creek staff, students, parents, and volunteers

Goals and Expectations

The effective Student Impact Director will achieve the following goals during the first 24 months of work:

Provide Vision & Oversight: Develop a strategic vision and implementation strategy for the high school ministry that includes discipleship, evangelism, and engaging programming and events.

• Build and manage systems for accommodating growth that will allow for scalable health and progress.
• Establish ministry goals with individual team members and evaluate progress regularly.
• Manage the approved Student Impact budget.

Small Groups: Run a robust small group infrastructure that may include the current House Group/Small Group model but also open to other operating models for the Director to determine.

Camp experiences/Weekends: Provide engaging weekend and camp experiences for high school students that encourage community building, evangelism, and personal spiritual growth. 

• Provide a safe and secure environment before, during and after weekend services and special events.
• Support an environment for students of all backgrounds.

Collaboration: Work closely with all of NextGen Team and in tandem with the leadership teams of both Promiseland (birth-5thgrade) and Elevate (junior high) in order to maximize efforts and promote seamless transitions for students and parents. 

Curriculum: Evaluate current curriculum and lead the develop of additional content that can be used to build up and support the high school students and parents at Willow Creek always being mindful of providing next steps.

Communication/Teaching: Demonstrates a strong stage presence in both large group and small group settings. 

• Oversees the primary teaching for all high school weekend experiences and events as either the primary communicator or one of a team.
• Delivers relevant and Biblical teaching that helps students become more fully devoted followers of Christ. 

Candidate Profile

The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the role of Student Impact Director:

Education

Bachelors degree required

Experience/Skills

The successful candidate will have 5+ years of progressively responsible student ministry and teaching experience.  In addition, they will have proven experience in the following areas of skill:  

• Inspiring teams, vision-casting, and creating momentum for ministry growth.
• Experience with leading a paid-staff team of 3 or more direct reports
• Strong and dynamic communication to groups of all sizes.
• Proven track record of identifying, coaching, and developing leaders (staff and volunteers) in a growing church environment.
• Proven experience and a demonstrated passion for designing and creating programs for students that can effectively catalyze spiritual growth.
• Proven experience developing and equipping volunteers to connect with students and parents and to reach those far from God within their community outside of the church’s building.
• Possess outstanding verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to clearly define mission-critical objectives and possess a willingness to hold themselves and others accountable to meeting these objectives.
• Demonstrated ability to adapt quickly and function in an integrated ministry environment in a large-church setting.

Personal Characteristics

• Strong, demonstrated relationship with Jesus Christ, guided by a commitment to following the biblical principles of being a fully devoted follower of Him.
• Demonstrated high level of integrity.
• A self-motivated individual with a healthy amount of drive.
• A humble, authentic, and transparent disposition.
• A willingness to live out their faith in community.
• A passion for reaching those far from God with a commitment to personal evangelism.
• Models personal spiritual growth.
• A life-long learner.
• A “fit” with Willow Creek in areas of theology and ministry philosophy.
• Passionate about the vision and values of Willow.
• A leader who desires to find ways to add to the value of multisite ministry.
• A team player who focuses on the good of the entire organization.
• Exhibits a spirit of flexibility and adaptability.
• Possesses a high degree of relational and emotional intelligence, as well as healthy boundaries.
• Committed to unity.