September Update: Alignment
By Real Life Church
If you’ve ever put new tires on your car, you likely understand this: tires are expensive! Ok, that’s not really what this post is about, but it’s true, right? When it comes to new tires, you can get the right size, the right brand, and the right air pressure, but if the alignment is off you will have a rough ride. Alignment is crucial.
We are entering a season of our lead pastor search where this becomes increasingly important. After receiving many resumes and applications over the last month or so, the pastor search team is now beginning the exciting yet daunting process of narrowing down the list of candidates. When doing this, it’s easy to focus on a candidate’s gifting, abilities, and experience to try and find someone who is the “right fit” for lead pastor of RLC. The challenge is not to just find the most gifted or experienced candidate but to find a candidate whose abilities and experience align with the vision, mission, and values of RLC. That’s where the profiles that the pastor search team worked initially to develop come into play.
We are praying and searching for a candidate who aligns with who we are as a church. We believe that there are characteristics and values of RLC that make our church unique. As described in our church profile, we love that the congregation of RLC reflects the diversity of the city of Las Cruces. On any given Sunday, you’ll find people from different cultures, backgrounds, and generations gathering to connect in love, grow in faith, and serve the city. As you walk the church campus and even look at the events calendar, you’ll see how RLC emphasizes ministering to the different generations from kids and youth to college and adults. We are praying that God will bring a lead pastor who has a heart for multicultural and multigenerational discipleship. We are believing that our next lead pastor will align with the heart of who we are as a church.
Who we are as a church is deeply connected to where we are located as a church. We believe that God placed RLC in the middle of Las Cruces for a purpose - to reach and minister to our surrounding community. Our community profile includes demographic data about the community that lives within a 2.5 mile radius of RLC. Did you know that our surrounding community consists primarily of non-traditional young families? Many of these are single parent homes with young children as our community has a 50% higher population of these families than the state average. We are praying for a lead pastor who shares a passion and desire to reach our surrounding community with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We are believing for a candidate who feels a burden to minister to these families and see life transformation happen right here in our community.
As the pastor search team pours over resume after resume, let us pray as a church that the Holy Spirit would shed light on candidates who share the heart, vision, and values of RLC. As we seek to align with the will of God for RLC, we believe he has a lead pastor who can align with who we are and the purpose that God has for our church.