link to senior pastor

---

Burnt Hickory Baptist Church Senior Pastor Search Burnt Hickory Baptist Church (BHBC) in Powder Springs, Georgia is seeking to find the man God has selected and called to be the new Senior Pastor for the future. BHBC and its ministries have been greatly blessed and grown under the leadership of Pastor Mike Stephens, who served the Lord faithfully for 32 years as the Senior Pastor. Pastor Mike recently announced his retirement, setting the church in motion to prayerfully seek the Lord’s direction to find the man God wants to lead us. About the Community BHBC is centered in west Cobb County in suburban northwestern metro Atlanta. The church ministers in a growing, family oriented, moderately diverse community. The community has grown rapidly over the past 20 years to 223,000 (77,000 families) and is projected to continue to have moderate growth (9%) for at least the next 10 years.

About BHBC BHBC seeks to be a Kingdom-Focused Church that does whatever it takes to passionately share God's love, acceptance and forgiveness in our community (West Cobb and East Paulding Counties) and the world. It is our passion for each person in our community to hear about the love of God through Jesus Christ. We pursue helping our members to fulfill their potential in Christ. We believe God's Word teaches that every member is to be a minister. We are committed to every member living out their spiritual giftedness and finding their areas of ministry and service to fulfill their potential in Christ, in the body of Christ and in the world. The church and our facilities have grown rapidly over the past 20 years. Current membership is 5,800, with a staff of 55 FTE. Our facilities total 200,000 square feet on 35 acres, and include a multi-purpose worship and event center, state of the art Children’s Ministry building, and large educational and office space. The church focuses on family ministry, as is reflected in top-5 state ranking in children and student baptisms. Additional information about our belief’s and ministries is available on our church web site, burnthickory.com. BHBC Senior Pastor Profile The senior pastor of BHBC should be a man of God with the qualities of character, leadership and love. He must meet all biblical requirements (1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-4), be Spirit filled, and be spiritually gifted for pastoral ministry. He spends substantial time in personal prayer, devotion and reflection on scripture and gives evidence of the Holy Spirit active and working in his life. He should have great integrity, reputation and a strong work ethic. He should be humble, dependable, faithful, truthful, and devoted to learning. His leadership qualities include courage of his convictions, forward thinking, decisiveness, perseverance, discernment, and willing to take risks or confront in difficult circumstance while tolerating the stress of leading a large church. His love for people should be evident by his approachable and friendly demeanor, enthusiasm, a sense of humor, optimism, generosity, empathy, compassion and a forgiving spirit. He is passionate for the Word of God, the lost, the church, and the mission field of our church. His wife and family love and support him and his ministry.

Knowledge 1. The Bible – The senior pastor of BHBC should have in-depth Bible knowledge, a continuing hunger to grow in this knowledge, and a systematic interpretation of it, relying on the complete scripture to interpret scripture. His knowledge and interpretation of scripture should be supported by theological education and a degree from a seminary that teaches consistently with the Baptist Faith and Message. The senior pastor should believe that the Bible is written by men divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit and is God's revelation of Himself to us. That it is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. 2. Principles and practices of church leadership – The senior pastor of BHBC should have indepth knowledge to lead this congregation as a “New Testament church” of the Lord Jesus Christ. He has the knowledge to lead this body of believers to fulfill the Great Commission purposes as part of the Body of Christ toward worship, prayer, evangelism, missions, discipleship, stewardship, fellowship and a caring ministry to members and others. The senior pastor should have in-depth knowledge to lead in church growth and the management of a large and growing church.

Skills and Abilities 1. Leadership – The senior pastor of BHBC should have proven, strong, executive-level leadership skills and a desire to provide leadership to all ministries and aspects of the church. His leadership abilities include godly discernment, encouragement, good judgment, supervision, and leadership development. He should be able to effectively delegate responsibilities to others and trust that them to do what they commit to do. The senior pastor should be able to prayerfully cast and communicate a vision for the church and to effectively lead the church to fulfill that vision.

2. People Skills – The senior pastor of BHBC should have a shepherd’s heart to lead the pastoral care ministry to the congregation. His heart is to lovingly care for the people and families as they have needs. He should relate well to others, have good social skills, and be able to provide counsel and constructively deal with difficult circumstance and conflict. 3. Preaching and Teaching – The senior pastor of BHBC should be skilled in preaching and teaching the Word of God. He should have strong communication skills to relate the Gospel message to reach the hearts of people of any age, background and spiritual need. He relies on the Holy Spirit for inspiration to lead life changing evangelistic and equipping ministries of worship and Bible teaching.

Experience The senior pastor of BHBC should have at least ten years of pastoral experience in a large ministry or church, and an advanced degree from a seminary that teaches consistent with BHBC beliefs. His experience and training should demonstrate his abilities to shepherd and lead this church to reach the lost of our community, to disciple others, and to equip believers. He should be experienced in the innovative, missional growing of a ministry or church. He should have experience ministering to the spiritual and personal needs facing each of our generations.