Church Planter in Residence

Northwest Gospel Church Summary

Northwest Gospel Church is currently made up of five local churches in Clark County, Washington (Portland, Oregon metro area). These five churches are interdependent, locally led, and missionally linked. Being interdependent, each church relies on the others in multiple areas of ministry and operations. Being locally led, each church is a representation of the local community where it meets. And being missionally linked, we plan to train church planters, and plant Gospel-centered churches in the Portland metro area and beyond. As a church staff, we see Ephesians 4 as our primary job description, "to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." As leaders within NGC, we are not primarily "doers" of ministry, but "equippers" of ministry. You should see this play out in every Ministerial and Pastoral role within NGC.

Our Mission:

Northwest Gospel Church (NGC) exists to glorify God by equipping the church to be the church to fill our region with gospel churches.

Overview of the Role:

The Church Planter in Residence (CPR) is a developmental role designed to identify, train, assess, and commission a future church planter within a 20–24 month residency. Over the course of the program, the CPR will be vetted through a structured assessment process, trained through the NGC Church Planting Residency curriculum, deployed into an assigned area of ministry suited to their gifts, and ultimately sent to plant a gospel church in the Portland metro area and beyond. The CPR will carry preaching responsibilities across Northwest Gospel Church, contribute to discipleship content, and move through four progressive stages — from assimilation and training, through gathering and preparing, to launching a new church.

Desired Profile:

Northwest Gospel Church is seeking a spiritually mature, humble, and mission-driven leader with a clear calling to church planting and a passion for making disciples in the Portland metro area. The ideal Church Planter in Residence is a gifted expositional preacher, relational leader, and team builder who demonstrates the biblical character qualifications of an elder, aligns with the mission vision and values of Northwest Gospel Church, and thrives in a collaborative, multiplication-focused church culture. This candidate should possess meaningful ministry experience, strong leadership and discipleship skills, emotional resilience, and the ability to cast vision, engage the surrounding culture with gospel clarity, and develop people and teams toward launching a healthy, gospel-centered church.

Responsibilities: 

CHURCH PLANTING ASSESSMENT
A central purpose of this residency is to assess and affirm the CPR’s calling, character, and competency for church planting. This is an ongoing process through the residency, though there are specific milestones and markers throughout. Specific responsibilities include:

• Complete the Send Network Church Planting Assessment and pursue Send Network certification as part of the formal vetting process.
• Engage in ongoing internal assessment through NGC leadership, including regular evaluations of calling, character, ministry competency, and readiness to plant.
• Participate in elder track and pursue formal ordination through NGC as part of the residency.
• Meet regularly with an assigned elder-mentor who will guide spiritual formation, inner life, and pastoral development throughout the residency.
• Demonstrate growth toward the eleven core competencies outlined in the NGC Church Planting Residency, with measurable benchmarks reviewed at each stage.

CHURCH PLANTING RESIDENCY CURRICULUM
The CPR will move through the NGC Church Planting Residency curriculum as a participant, receiving structured training designed to prepare them for every dimension of planting a church. Specific responsibilities include:

• Complete all required reading across the four curriculum categories: Ecclesiology & Church Health, Church Planting, Pastoral Character & Soul Care, and Ministry Skills.
• Attend regular residency meetings and engage with assigned learning content and competency development at each stage.
• Complete all assignments, thresholds, and written deliverables as outlined in the curriculum on schedule.
• Maintain a weekly journal documenting spiritual, emotional, and practical growth throughout the residency.
• Actively recruit, evangelize, and begin identifying individuals who may form a future core team for the church plant.

AREA OF MINISTRY FOCUS
The CPR will serve in an assigned area of ministry determined by candidate strengths and the needs of the Northwest Gospel Church at the time of hire. This focused area provides the CPR with real ministry experience, leadership development, and the opportunity to build relationships across the congregation that will support future church planting efforts. Specific responsibilities will be defined in alignment with the assigned area and will include: 

• Faithfully serve in the assigned ministry area with excellence, contributing meaningfully to the life and mission of the local church.
• Attend all relevant staff, team, and ministry-led meetings connected to the assigned area.
• Build relationships with members across Northwest Gospel Church through consistent ministry presence.
• Integrate church planting vision into ministry activity where appropriate, helping the congregation understand and embrace NGC’s mission to establish new churches.

PREACHING
The CPR will carry regular preaching responsibilities across the Northwest Gospel Church as a member of the NGC Preaching Team. Specific responsibilities include:

• Preach regularly at NGC’s local churches as scheduled by the Preaching Team.
• Participate in sermon planning and series development meetings, contributing to the overall teaching strategy of NGC.
• Collaborate with Local Lead Pastors to ensure consistent, biblically faithful, expositional teaching across NGC.
• Integrate church planting themes and vision into sermon content where appropriate.
  

DISCIPLESHIP CONTENT CREATION
Working alongside the Church Support Team, the CPR will contribute to the development of teaching and training resources that support NGC’s discipleship initiatives. Specific responsibilities include:

• Collaborate with the Church Support Team in the creation of Community Group Study Guides that complement sermon series across the Northwest Gospel Church.
• Develop content, including video teachings and podcast episodes, that supports discipleship and advances church planting awareness.
• Create specialized resources focused on church planting, helping equip and educate congregations in understanding and supporting new church development.

Residency Stages

STAGE 1: ASSIMILATING (MONTH 1)

Objective: Become familiar with NGC’s culture, rhythms, and residency expectations.

• Complete all onboarding steps and begin the membership process.
• Begin monthly meetings with elder-mentor.
• Share meals or coffee with 4–6 leaders and/or members from the church.
• Get acquainted with the leaders and gatherings of the assigned ministry area of focus.
• Begin a weekly journal documenting emotional, spiritual, and practical experiences in the role.
• Attend first elder and staff meetings.

STAGE 2: TRAINING & SERVING (MONTHS 2-12)

Objective: Begin training toward the eleven core competencies while serving faithfully in the assigned ministry area.

• Attend regular residency meetings.
• Attend all required staff, elder, member, preaching, and ministry-led meetings.
• Meet monthly with elder-mentor.
• Work through the required reading list and monthly core competencies.
• Begin elder track.
• Spend regular time in the target community and in prayer.
• Faithfully serve in the assigned area of ministry.
• Begin identifying and building relationships with potential core team members.
  

STAGE 3: GATHERING & PREPARING (MONTHS 13-20)

Objective: Recruit and develop a launch team and prepare all logistics for starting the church.

• Relocate to or deepen presence in the target area.
• Film a short vision video and begin casting vision publicly.
• Write a comprehensive church plant prospectus.
• Continue fundraising and develop partnerships toward launch.
• Plan and lead prayer walks and attend pastors’ prayer gatherings in the city.
• Begin monthly launch team meetings and host vision dinners and interest meetings.
• Identify and secure a location to meet.
• Plan preview services and begin hiring a staff team.
• Assign and train serve teams.
• Complete all legal, branding, and financial setup steps as applicable.

STAGE 4: LAUNCHING (MONTH 21-LAUNCH DAY)

Objective: Successfully launch a healthy church that publicly gathers for worship on Sundays and scatters for witness throughout the week.

• Preach the gospel.
• Love neighbors and make disciples who make disciples.
• All for the glory of God.

Skills and Abilities: 

• 5–7 years of meaningful, paid ministry experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Bible, Ministry, or Theology.
• Competent preacher and communicator.
• Demonstrated ability to recruit, lead, and develop teams.
• Experience in discipleship, evangelism, and community engagement.
• Ability to manage multiple responsibilities and deadlines with consistency.
• Familiarity with church planting principles and processes is preferred.
• Leads with integrity — models character before competency in every area of ministry.
• Discerns and casts vision — able to clearly articulate and compellingly communicate directional vision.
• Builds people and teams — invests in others and develops leaders around them.
• Teaches faithfully — prepares and delivers biblically faithful, expositionally grounded sermons.
• Engages the mission — actively practices evangelism and exegetes the surrounding culture.
• Manages well — able to fundraise, steward a budget, and handle the operational demands of ministry

Expectations: 

• A clear testimony of faith in Jesus and a vital growing personal relationship with Him.
• Must meet the biblical qualifications for eldership as outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9.
  
• A mature follower of Jesus with a demonstrated commitment to personal spiritual growth.
• Full of integrity and in good standing with the community.
• Humble, teachable, and remaining flexible and available throughout the residency.
• Strong shepherd’s heart with a passion for people and for equipping the church.
• Affirms NGC’s statement of faith and holds reformed/complementarian theology.
• Called by God to vocational ministry, with a clear and demonstrated sense of calling to church planting.
• Thrives in a high-paced, dynamic environment with adaptability and resilience.
• Detail-oriented with high standards of excellence, accuracy and timeliness
• Professional in appearance and communication
• Strong interpersonal, communication, relationship skills
• Maintain confidentiality with regard to office and church information
• Manage and diffuse difficult situations with composure and professionalism
• An “Ideal Team Player” (humble, hungry, smart)
• Comfortable and growing in IT skills including Microsoft Office, Google suite, Planning Center and other platforms
  

Compensation/Benefits 

The hiring range for this position is $75,000–$90,000/year and will be determined based on experience, qualifications, and internal equity. This position is eligible for a comprehensive benefits package, which includes medical, dental, vision coverage, retirement plan participation, paid time off, and other employee benefits.

Job Progress Metrics and Evaluation 

This position reports directly to the Senior Executive Pastor and will receive regular performance evaluations. Compensation is reviewed regularly. The following are clear and tangible ways that you can assess your progress in your job. You'll notice these metrics are related to the most important parts of your job (the people you're impacting) and are areas that you directly influence on a weekly and monthly basis. 

• Am I effectively managing my responsibilities, deadlines, and ministry commitments with consistency and excellence?
• Am I demonstrating a clear calling, passion, and readiness to plant a gospel-centered church?
• Am I intentionally building relationships and investing in people who could become part of a future launch team?