Queen Anne Baptist Church is searching for a new Senior Pastor. Please read on for our Church Profile and Senior Pastor Job Description. For any inquiries, please email Rev. Doug Avilesbernal, Executive Minister, Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches.
Church Profile
Queen Anne Baptist Church is located in the Upper Queen Anne neighborhood of Seattle, an area that has experienced great transition in the past ten years. Several apartment complexes have been built and one is currently scheduled to be built north from the church building at what is now Safeway. East of the church are single-family homes, and several of those homes have been purchased by young families in this last decade.
In 2017, there were ten active members of the church, all but one over the age of seventy. Today, there are twenty members with eight under the age of fifty, and several others who attend regularly but are not members. Five babies were born in the life of the church between 2019 and 2021, with three baby dedications at the church. Five new members joined the church between July 2020 and March 2021. The membership went from 90% white to approximately 60% white, 40% people of color.
The church began using the motto “Connect ~ Engage ~ Grow” in 2017 with our new logo as a way to remind us to connect with our faith and tradition, engage in the community, and grow in our relationship with God and one another.
In 2019 the church went through a visioning process using resources and training from LEAD (Live Everyday As Disciples). We held Coffee Conversations after worship to share in the process. We discerned our values as:
Love: the all-encompassing affection from God to us, and to one another
Mercy: Compassion and kindness shown to someone who may not deserve it, or does not have power.
Inclusion: the act of inviting and welcoming someone in
Creativity: expression and imagination producing something new
Faith: Confidence, Trust, and Belief in God
In June 2019, we adopted our purpose statement:
God calls us to be a welcoming and inclusive gathering who follow Jesus and reflect the love, mercy, and hope of our faith to Queen Anne and beyond.
From this visioning process, we continued to hold Coffee Conversations to discern changes to our worship service, including the use of more inclusive language in our music and prayers. We began a series of potluck discussions on the first Sunday of the month to help the congregation get to know each other better and discern what ministries we wanted to support, and conversations led us to our involvement with New Horizons Youth Shelter.
When Covid broke out in Seattle, our congregation shifted quickly to online worship. Since we already held Bible Study in a hybrid manner, it was an easier change for our congregation. We held two outdoor worship services the summer of 2020, but remained online fully until May 2021 when we began hybrid services. We also incorporated our Children’s Church using Godly Play fully into the worship service so that children and adults participate fully together. During this time, we also began an online book discussion group to discern the work as a congregation to be more actively anti-racist, in alignment with the anti-racism work of the Evergreen Association and American Baptist Churches, USA.
Queen Anne Baptist Church has sought to be active in the community, participating in Queen Anne Days, Halloween, and holding a forum with local businesses and Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis. The church held outdoor art activities and Pastor Mindi held outdoor office hours at least once a week during the summer. Pastor Mindi and Pastor JC began Wild Church, a once-a-month outdoor gathering to connect relationship with creation, Creator, and community, as a way of reaching out to those who are spiritual but not religious. At the church property, the sexton has decorated outdoors seasonally for Halloween and Christmas, and the decorations have brought attention to the building for the last few years.
Queen Anne Baptist Church hosts four other nonprofit organizations within its walls: The Queen Anne Cooperative Preschool has used the basement level below the sanctuary for over thirty years. Children’s Dance Workshop has held classes for thirty years in the Fellowship Hall. The Seattle SeaChordsmen Barbershop Chorus has rehearsed in our building for several years on Tuesday evenings and has sung during the Advent season in our worship and other special events. People’s Memorial Association/The Co-Op Funeral Home moved into the upstairs of our building in February 2020, and as an essential business have remained open during Covid.
As Covid has continued, there are many challenges to ministry in Queen Anne. The changing demographics mean that many of the people who live in the immediate area of the church are new. Several of our families with children have moved away from Seattle, and most of our congregation has remained online. Our senior members have remained home.
The good news is that almost every Sunday there are visitors at the church. While there is no parking on the church property, there is two-hour parking available in the Trader Joe’s garage behind the church and there is bus stop within a block of the church building. Our online presence has brought people to online and in-person worship. There are many opportunities for congregational growth and new ministries here in Queen Anne.
In 2017, there were ten active members of the church, all but one over the age of seventy. Today, there are twenty members with eight under the age of fifty, and several others who attend regularly but are not members. Five babies were born in the life of the church between 2019 and 2021, with three baby dedications at the church. Five new members joined the church between July 2020 and March 2021. The membership went from 90% white to approximately 60% white, 40% people of color.
The church began using the motto “Connect ~ Engage ~ Grow” in 2017 with our new logo as a way to remind us to connect with our faith and tradition, engage in the community, and grow in our relationship with God and one another.
In 2019 the church went through a visioning process using resources and training from LEAD (Live Everyday As Disciples). We held Coffee Conversations after worship to share in the process. We discerned our values as:
Love: the all-encompassing affection from God to us, and to one another
Mercy: Compassion and kindness shown to someone who may not deserve it, or does not have power.
Inclusion: the act of inviting and welcoming someone in
Creativity: expression and imagination producing something new
Faith: Confidence, Trust, and Belief in God
In June 2019, we adopted our purpose statement:
God calls us to be a welcoming and inclusive gathering who follow Jesus and reflect the love, mercy, and hope of our faith to Queen Anne and beyond.
From this visioning process, we continued to hold Coffee Conversations to discern changes to our worship service, including the use of more inclusive language in our music and prayers. We began a series of potluck discussions on the first Sunday of the month to help the congregation get to know each other better and discern what ministries we wanted to support, and conversations led us to our involvement with New Horizons Youth Shelter.
When Covid broke out in Seattle, our congregation shifted quickly to online worship. Since we already held Bible Study in a hybrid manner, it was an easier change for our congregation. We held two outdoor worship services the summer of 2020, but remained online fully until May 2021 when we began hybrid services. We also incorporated our Children’s Church using Godly Play fully into the worship service so that children and adults participate fully together. During this time, we also began an online book discussion group to discern the work as a congregation to be more actively anti-racist, in alignment with the anti-racism work of the Evergreen Association and American Baptist Churches, USA.
Queen Anne Baptist Church has sought to be active in the community, participating in Queen Anne Days, Halloween, and holding a forum with local businesses and Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis. The church held outdoor art activities and Pastor Mindi held outdoor office hours at least once a week during the summer. Pastor Mindi and Pastor JC began Wild Church, a once-a-month outdoor gathering to connect relationship with creation, Creator, and community, as a way of reaching out to those who are spiritual but not religious. At the church property, the sexton has decorated outdoors seasonally for Halloween and Christmas, and the decorations have brought attention to the building for the last few years.
Queen Anne Baptist Church hosts four other nonprofit organizations within its walls: The Queen Anne Cooperative Preschool has used the basement level below the sanctuary for over thirty years. Children’s Dance Workshop has held classes for thirty years in the Fellowship Hall. The Seattle SeaChordsmen Barbershop Chorus has rehearsed in our building for several years on Tuesday evenings and has sung during the Advent season in our worship and other special events. People’s Memorial Association/The Co-Op Funeral Home moved into the upstairs of our building in February 2020, and as an essential business have remained open during Covid.
As Covid has continued, there are many challenges to ministry in Queen Anne. The changing demographics mean that many of the people who live in the immediate area of the church are new. Several of our families with children have moved away from Seattle, and most of our congregation has remained online. Our senior members have remained home.
The good news is that almost every Sunday there are visitors at the church. While there is no parking on the church property, there is two-hour parking available in the Trader Joe’s garage behind the church and there is bus stop within a block of the church building. Our online presence has brought people to online and in-person worship. There are many opportunities for congregational growth and new ministries here in Queen Anne.
Senior Pastor Job Description
Queen Anne Baptist Church is searching for a Senior Pastor who can lead our church in its next steps as a restart congregation. We are searching for a leader who is creative, energetic, innovative and imaginative. The possibilities and opportunities are wide open in this church restart.
The Senior Pastor will be responsible for the following:
-Planning and overseeing worship services.
-Coordinating fellowship and education activities in partnership with staff and lay leadership in pursuit of the congregation’s values, vision, and goals.
-Overseeing church staff.
-Continuing to develop relationships with neighbors of the church.
-Leading in the connection with Evergreen Association.
-Forming connections and/or partnerships with other community leaders and organizations, ecumenical and interfaith partners.
-Helping to cultivate lay leadership and ministering with the Leadership Council and others in the church.
-Communicating and working with our building partners.
Compensation:
Salary and housing, plus health insurance for pastor and family, four weeks vacation, continuing education funds and travel expenses.
Applicants must meet the requirements for ordination in the American Baptist Churches, USA.
For more information on Queen Anne Baptist Church, our values and vision and current ministries, visit www.queenannebaptist.org (click the menu above). Queen Anne Baptist Church is part of the Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, USA.
To inquire about the position or the church, please email Rev. Doug Avilesbernal, Executive Minister, Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches.
The Senior Pastor will be responsible for the following:
-Planning and overseeing worship services.
-Coordinating fellowship and education activities in partnership with staff and lay leadership in pursuit of the congregation’s values, vision, and goals.
-Overseeing church staff.
-Continuing to develop relationships with neighbors of the church.
-Leading in the connection with Evergreen Association.
-Forming connections and/or partnerships with other community leaders and organizations, ecumenical and interfaith partners.
-Helping to cultivate lay leadership and ministering with the Leadership Council and others in the church.
-Communicating and working with our building partners.
Compensation:
Salary and housing, plus health insurance for pastor and family, four weeks vacation, continuing education funds and travel expenses.
Applicants must meet the requirements for ordination in the American Baptist Churches, USA.
For more information on Queen Anne Baptist Church, our values and vision and current ministries, visit www.queenannebaptist.org (click the menu above). Queen Anne Baptist Church is part of the Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches, USA.
To inquire about the position or the church, please email Rev. Doug Avilesbernal, Executive Minister, Evergreen Association of American Baptist Churches.