Purpose:      The Director of Traditional Music and Worship, under the supervision of the lead pastor, will provide dynamic leadership to support, cultivate, and enhance the corporate worship life of the congregation.

Essential Functions:

·      Develop with the Lead Pastor a dynamic vision for traditional worship in alignment with the mission, vision, and values of the larger congregation.

·      Design, develop, implement, direct, and oversee choirs, teams, ensembles, orchestra, soloists, and others in the fine arts to support the traditional corporate worship life of the congregation including:

o  Planning the music, creating sectional rehearsal recordings, rehearsing with, and directing the Celebrations Singers choir.

o  Planning the music, rehearsing with, and directing the Acclamation Ringers bell choir.

o  Developing, planning the music, rehearsing with, and directing the children’s choir.

o  Planning the music, rehearsing with, and conducting special music events in the life of the congregation including but not limited to a Christmas concert and Holy Week/Easter services, etc.

o  Providing musical accompaniment for weddings and funerals for church members.

·      Be an integral part of the Worship Planning Team which provides for the ongoing planning, resourcing, and scheduling for the regular and special worship celebrations of the congregation.

·      Able to accompany congregational-singing on the organ and/or piano at traditional worship services as needed.

·      Coordinate with the Director of Contemporary Music and Worship and Worship Planning Team to develop blended services in appropriate seasons and for certain events.

·      Recruit, develop, resource, and manage a team of volunteers and music contractors in the area of worship fine arts including the choir accompanist and seasonal orchestra.

·      Collaborate with other program ministries of the congregation to strengthen the overall mission of First United Methodist Church.

·      Collaborate with the Finance Team and Worship Planning Team to develop the annual budget related to the Worship Ministry.

·      Participate in staff meetings in addition to the meetings of the Worship Planning Team.

·      Oversee maintenance and care of piano, organ, bells and other instruments used in traditional worship.

Minimum Qualifications:

·      Bachelor’s degree in Music, Music Education, or Sacred Music (or equivalent).

·      Master’s Level education in worship studies or equivalent is a strong plus.

·      Proven track record of demonstrated success in designing, developing, implementing, and leading worship ministry within a team context.

·      Proficient accompanist on organ and piano.

·      Strong understanding of Scripture and Christian Theology within the Wesleyan tradition.

Successful achievement determined by answers to:

·      Is there an annual evaluation cycle for traditional worship ministry? What are the areas for growth identified in the most recent cycle of evaluation?  What areas of greatest strength were identified?

·      Is the Traditional Music Ministry successfully enhancing the worship experience? Are the choirs attracting and retaining talented singers and musicians?

·      In what ways is the Director of Traditional Music and Worship staying spiritually strong, relationally healthy, physically well, professionally competent, and culturally current as a leader for this essential area of ministry?

Core Competencies:

Mission Ownership:  Demonstrates understanding and full support of the mission, vision, values, and beliefs of First Church. Can teach those values to others. Leads his/her leadership team to identify their unique mission and vision which is in line with the mission and vision of the larger congregation.

Spiritual Maturity:  Authentic and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Able to share his/her faith story with others in meaningful ways. Practices Christian discipleship as understood and commended by First Church. Models and develops humility, teach-ability, accountability and servant leadership in all relationships. Expresses a “Great Commission Conscience” that seeks the building up of believers and the conversion of the world.

Integration: Integrates vibrant Christian faith with worship practices, selection of fine arts resources, and the current needs of the congregation to support worship experiences that are authentic encounters with the presence of God on a regular basis.

Ministry – Specific Expertise: Well informed and able to share with others the foundational rationale, primary mental models, and best current practices in his/her area of ministry leadership. Regarded by the staff and congregation as being the primary thought leader in his/her area of ministry by virtue of formal training, ministry experience, and ability to share that expertise with others in accessible ways.

Interpersonal Skills: Demonstrates the ability to attract a following of other leaders and potential leaders. Demonstrates the skills of active listening, direct communication, and non-defensiveness. Seeks to collaborate rather than compete with other areas of ministry. Productively engages and resolves interpersonal conflict. Holds others accountable in the spirit of love. Engages people positively.

Team Building Skills: Guides team members in the process of sharing best practices and identifying/solving common problems. Works with leaders to assess the health of ministry programs, groups, and leaders. Recognizes dysfunctional team behavior and redirects toward effective behavior. Creates & communicates vision, direction, and goals for the team.

Management Skills: Demonstrates commitment as well as flexibility in scheduling with those in his/her span of leadership. Understands his/her leadership style, temperament type, and preferred ways for handling conflict so that he/she may effectively adapt to the needs of the situation. Recruits, delegates, empowers, and holds leaders accountable. Marshals resources (people, funding, material, support) to get things done.

Supervising Work:  Establishes clear expectations and sets clear direction for direct reports; sets stretching objectives; distributes workload appropriately; provides regular and ongoing feedback about performance; proactively deals with substandard performance; delegates clearly and comfortably; sets clear objectives and measures, monitors process, progress, and results; engages disciplinary processes in a timely manner.

Please send resumes to: Rev. Lisa Kruse-Safford

Contact: Rev. Lisa Kruse-Safford

Phone: 8155081388

Closing Date: 10/09/2023