Full- or Part-Time Pastor at Church of the Servant (Grand Rapids, MI)

Church of the Servant seeks to add to its pastoral team. We are open to a variety of possible positions—part time or full time—to accomplish our ministry needs in an increasingly multicultural congregation, and expectant of the Spirit’s guidance in putting together a pastoral team that can lead COS into the future.

Essential qualities: strong preaching, pastoral care skills, eagerness to work as part of a team.

Desirable qualities: cross-cultural experience, some fluency in the Swahili language, commitment to intergenerational ministry and faith formation.

If you wish to express interest or apply for this position, please respond to search@coscrc.org with a brief statement of your interest along with a description of your experience and qualifications. Should you qualify, we will then schedule an initial personal meeting with you. 

Profile of the Church of the Servant:

Mission Statement: Rooted in Christ and nurtured by the Spirit, we grow in God’s grace to share gifts of refuge, fellowship, and hope.

As a congregation gathered around the Tree of Life, we are called to:

• participate in worship that is Reformed and liturgical, historic and modern, local and global
• prepare people for fruitful service by nurturing their gifts and cultivating their discipleship
• create a community where the burdened and suffering will find shelter, where the alienated will be accepted, and where those seeking God will be shown the way
• share God’s lavish love in Jesus and promote justice and peace for our neighbors near and far and for the earth, our common home 

Worship: From its founding, COS was committed to a more broadly catholic and Reformed form of worship. One of its founding members, Nick Wolterstorff, was a passionate promoter of a liturgical and sacramental worship that characterized the church from early times. The liturgies follow the liturgical year and the traditional four-fold order (Entrance, Word, Sacrament, Sending) and includes the Eucharist as the climax of each service. Liturgical and Sacramental worship is core to COS’s identity.

Resulting from its long-standing passion for ministry with refugees and other immigrants, an additional worship service, replacing our 8:30 worship service, was begun in the 2000s. At first called the Basic English Service, now the All Nations Service, this worship includes both new Americans but also other congregation members, and typically has 60-70 worshippers. While following the same structure as the main service, care is taken to simplify both the liturgy and preaching. The All Nations Service is considered an alternate worship service within the one-church community of COS. Read more here.

Other Ministries:

Refugee Settlement: A team of people have worked for many years in refugee work such as sponsoring refugees, providing housing and other help. In 2022, we dedicated our mission house, a next-door house purchased for temporary housing for refugee families. This mission is part of the COS DNA. Read more here.

ESL Classes: about 100 New Americans and refugees meet two days each week with volunteer tutors for ESL. This ministry grew out of our long-standing refugee work. Read more here.

Anti-Racism: The Anti-Racism team monitors the congregation’s efforts to fight racism in all its forms in the congregation and community. It sponsors educational events and encourages leaders to participate in an Antiracism workshop. Read more here.

Creation Care: A regularly functioning team focuses on climate care initiatives for our building and grounds, and education for the congregation. Read more here.

Missions: The congregation sponsors a number of international missionaries, from Egypt to  Indonesia and Latin America. Read more here.

Faith Formation:  Sunday morning children’s worship (preschool-2nd grade sensory worship experience during the worship service), Sunday school (children/youth), GPS (God’s People Seeking: a regular Sunday morning adult education ministry); Thursday morning Bible study, Wednesday Night Live (middle/high school), Sunday Night Youth Group (SNYG) Read more here.

For more information, and to contact the search team, please see the Church of the Servant website.