Greetings Terrace Shores Family,
As you know, we have been seeking a part-time Children’s Ministry Director since October of this past year. To date, we have received no interest in the position, not even a single application. Because of that, the elders and I have gone back to the drawing board and have been discussing how we can meet our staffing needs while not overreaching in our budget, especially as we’ve been talking about some potential facility needs in the near future.
In the midst of these conversations, a potential candidate came across our path and we conducted an interview, but through that process, it became clear that the candidate would need more than 20 hours a week. This led us to explore some discussions around a potential residency program that would offer someone who is interested in pursuing full-time ministry an opportunity to get an education and practical ministry experience, while also helping us fill some staffing needs. To be clear, this residency would be instead of the children’s ministry director position that was approved for the 2026 budget.
What is a pastoral residency?
Typically, a pastoral residency is a long-term (2+ years), full-time or near full-time job, in preparation for full-time vocational ministry. It is typically paid with specialized ministry areas and staff responsibilities.
What are we proposing for a pastoral residency?
We are requesting a 30 hour/week staff position with a salary of $42,000/year with up to $20,000/year additionally to pay for undergraduate or seminary classes and books in an approved ministry field. In addition, we would offer $35/month for phone reimbursement and an expense account of $2,500 for ministry related expenses. We would also supply a laptop, pay for two district conferences each year and 2 weeks of vacation plus holidays.
What would the job responsibilities be for this residency?
We will have two focus areas for the residency based on the greatest needs of Terrace Shores.
First, Children’s ministry. The resident will have leadership over our Sunday morning children’s ministry from birth through 5th grade. The resident will also have leadership over our mid-week All-Stars program during the school year, and will include events like Vacation Bible School, the children’s Christmas program and all volunteer recruiting, training, and scheduling.
The second focus will be Discipleship. There is some flexibility in this area, but this could include large events for men’s or women’s ministry, leading Sunday morning equipping classes, starting a young adult ministry or a seasoned saints ministry, and even helping with life group leader training.
In addition to these areas, there will be purposeful training for the resident in many other pastoral areas including preaching, administering sacraments (baptism and communion), counseling, visitations, wedding/funerals, event planning, administrative duties, outreach/evangelism, and missions.
How would a residency look at Terrace Shores?
For those who have attended Terrace Shores for some time now, we envision this position being very similar to that of Mark Sina, who served at Terrace Shores while getting his master’s degree and is now faithfully serving in a pastoral role in another church. Like in Mark’s case, this is not a permanent role, however, it will meet the current ministry needs of Terrace Shores while also fulfilling a role in encouraging and growing up the pastors of tomorrow in our EFCA district and beyond. Just as we do in other areas of the church, we disciple and equip people and send them out to do Kingdom work, just as we see in Scripture.
What are we asking from Terrace Shores members?
We would like to have a brief congregational meeting to approve a pastoral residency in place of the children’s ministry director position that was already approved for 2026.
This meeting will take place on Sunday, June 14th at approximately 9:25am between Sunday services in the sanctuary.
The total compensation for this position, assuming all $20,000 is used for schooling, would be approximately $65,000/year. Assuming we make this hire in the next couple months, we would unlikely exceed the $25,000 already budgeted for the Children’s Ministry Director position in 2026 (it’s likely the resident wouldn’t start school until January 2027), but this would essentially be an extra $40,000/year in our budget beginning in 2027. We would like to discuss and vote on this position at the congregational meeting on June 14th. We plan to pursue the candidate we have already interviewed and if that person is not the right fit, we will post this position with the EFCA and some trusted seminaries to seek a resident in the near future.
I would encourage you to reach out to me or any of our elders (Rich Bartz, Matt Burk, Ben Geisthardt, and Chris Metras) if you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding this. We would prefer to get those addressed for you prior to the congregational meeting.
In the meantime, I would ask you to pray for Terrace Shores, for our elders and I, and for this potential pastoral residency position.
“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord” – 1 Peter 1:2
Kyle Witek
Senior Pastor
Terrace Shores EFC
(920) 398-2734 church
(920) 203-7497 cell