So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
— 1 Peter 5:1–3

Over the past year, the elders have been actively seeking to add a third pastor to shepherd the flock of God at Five Points. The search to add pastoral staff has taken on a number of forms over the past few years as we continued evaluating where God is leading us in light of our current flock and ministry needs.

We’ve discerned the Lord leading us to pray for a pastor to join us in shepherding His flock with the specific responsibilities of care and discipleship carried out in teaching, leading, and training. Our vision is for the Associate Pastor of Care and Discipleship to join us in our pursuit of presenting every member mature in Christ by equipping the saints for the work of making disciples, being discipled, and discipling one another.

In other words, this position would not simply be a biblical counseling position but a position created to join the elders in advancing our culture of care and discipleship by equipping the saints to continue serving one another so that we all find our joy in Christ alone by the Spirit to the glory of the Father.

Towards this end, we have had conversations with a few men seeking who the Lord would lead us to call as a pastoral candidate, including earnest conversations with one man in particular. We ask you to join us in fervent prayer over the next week as we seek the Lord’s will and wisdom in this matter. It is no small matter to call a pastor to join us in shepherding the blood-bought flock of God under our Chief Shepherd, Jesus, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

Here is the job description (PDF) to assist you in praying for us in this matter. If you have any questions, we encourage you to find any of us this Sunday or come to our Wednesday evening Q&A gathering at 6:30pm.

Soli Deo Gloria,
The Council of Elders