Ministry Opportunity for Lead Pastor

The Church
Encounter Ministries, affiliated with the Assemblies of God, is a community church with charismatic roots. It was established in 1982 as an outgrowth of a campus ministry at Washington State University. After purchasing property, the initial church structure was begun and finally completed in 1992. After a period of strong growth in the 1990’s, the church experienced a decline and a change in leadership in 2014. With a new, fresh direction in both ministry and organization, the original property was sold in the spring of 2018 and a new tract and building, more centrally located, was purchased. The new home of Encounter Ministries is currently being renovated, with a move-in date set for the end of November.

Mission
The mission of Encounter Ministries is twofold. Looking outward, the church is developing ministries to reach the lost and broken both in the community and on the university campuses. Looking inward, the mission is to develop a strong church family where all are stimulated to grow spiritually, discover God’s purpose, and establish a deep, personal, living relationship with God.

Ministries
In addition to services with opportunities for liberty in worship, exhortation, teaching, and prayer for one another, small home fellowships provide opportunities for further Bible study and fellowship. Children and youth ministries will be designed to be able to accommodate those with special needs. Upon completion of our new facility, a variety of outreach ministries will be possible, as it is located in an area of high visibility, relatively close to both the WSU campus and the heart of town.

Congregation
We are a multigenerational church with an average Sunday attendance of 35, which is the core of the church. There is a mix of ages, but we are predominately 50 and above. We are unabashedly charismatic and seeking a move of God in this region.

Finances
Encounter Ministries is free of debt and currently operating with a surplus that has enabled us to support recent outreaches by our people to Guatemala and Pakistan.

Community
Encounter Ministries is located in Pullman, a community of 30,000 in the Palouse region of eastern Washington State. As a university town, Pullman is the home of Washington State University, which has a local student population of approximately 20,000, being Washington’s land-grant university. Moscow, Idaho, the home of the University of Idaho, is local to us as well, being only eight miles away. The University of Idaho has approximately 15,000 students.

The Palouse region is a pleasant place in which to live and raise a family, being somewhat rural and rather scenic. More importantly, from a ministry perspective, opportunities are immense as there are about 35,000 university students, many of whom are international, within an 8-mile radius of the church.

Desired Pastor Profile
We seek a strong spiritual leader with a heart for God’s will and a calling and vision for this ministry and this community. We seek a strong move of God’s Spirit and lasting fruit in the lives of the people around us. Certainly, this includes a ministry to the millennials that form such a large portion of our region. While we believe that the candidate that God has for us does not need to be of that generation, that person must be able to relate to them. The role will include preaching/teaching, leadership in all areas of church ministry, and pastoral care. We are willing to “think outside of the box” in accordance with God’s direction.

Start Date
January 1, 2019, or a date mutually agreeable to both parties.

Application Procedure
Those wishing to be considered as a candidate should send a cover letter, resume, statement of faith with personal testimony, names and contact information of four references, and links to audios/videos of sermons or teaching via email to:

William Cofer
Search Committee Chair
resumes@encounterministries.org