Pastor: Duties and Qualifications: Sierra Christian Church is prayerfully seeking a new senior pastor. We are looking for an experienced pastor to shepherd our small mountain-community church. He must love God, love our church body, have a heart for people, and consider pastoring and personal, spiritual growth among his highest priorities. The pastor for our church must believe in the Bible as the inspired Word of God, salvation through faith in Christ alone (available to whosoever believes in Him of their own free will), eternal security, and sound Biblical doctrine. He must have a clear sense of his calling of obedience to the Lord and feel led to serve as our pastor for the long-haul. Ideally, he will preach the Word with conviction and clarity, have a servant’s heart (considering no job too small or beneath him and willing to work side-by-side with other members of the body), lead by example, provide vision and leadership, and be discerning, humble, and empathetic. We have implemented an elder-led leadership model, so he must be willing to work together with his fellow elders in making decisions for Sierra Christian Church. We would hope for a married man with a great sense of humor, and maybe even an outdoorsman, who is a good fit for our church and our community. While we are not that far from the Biggest Little City of Reno, Nevada, we are located in God’s beautiful country and our most prevalent recreation opportunities involve the great outdoors. Compensation: We are expecting to budget $45,000 – $65,000 for our pastor. This would account for salary, housing allowance, mileage, and health and retirement benefits, and would depend on experience, need, and the pastor’s schedule.

{UPDATE: Salary/expenses are negotiable, to an extent, based on need. The compensation offered in this listing was determined base upon our budget, comparison to nearby churches, and our understanding of “industry standard” -for lack of a better term. Please don’t be discouraged from considering this posting based on the compensation shown.} Salary and benefits would be substantially less for a part-time pastor than for a full-time pastor.

Please provide a cover letter, resume, statement of faith, picture, and links to sermons. We will acknowledge receipt of your resume. Sierra Christian Church: We are located on Highway 70 in the small town of Beckwourth in rural Northern California. Our church was established in 2013, when we began by meeting in homes before purchasing the historic Beckwith Tavern. This building has a long-standing history and significant meaning to our community. The prior owners completed a beautiful renovation of the entire building prior to us purchasing it. The structure initially consisted of a sanctuary, one small classroom, and a fellowship area which still houses the bar from the original tavern. We use the bar area to serve a potluck lunch weekly for us to fellowship together as a family and with visitors. As time went on, the need for additional classrooms became apparent. We used modular classrooms for many years but had a vision and felt God leading us to add a permanent educational area. After purchasing the tavern in-full, God provided the clear direction and resources to break ground on an approximately 3,000 square-foot building addition with a nursery and five classrooms. The church used our existing savings, in combination with a private loan, to construct the $500,000 addition. God continued to bless us financially throughout the construction phase, and we only needed to take on approximately $75,000 of debt to build this great facility. We expect to pay off that debt within the next 1-2 years. We currently have 85 members. Approximately 65-75 regularly attend the worship services. We did find ourselves bursting at the seams this past Easter Sunday as we were one of the few local churches still meeting in-person this year. We have continually met in person since May 31, 2020. Our community and our church are largely conservative and traditional, maybe even a little old-fashioned (but in the best way). We work hard to love and take care of one another and have accepted a motto to “love the next person we come to.” When we began, we had a very mature congregation. As our ministry matured, our membership has continued to increase in number, and our body now consists of a great mix of young families, some single folks, and still quite a few empty-nesters and retirees. Our church has a vision to continue to grow and to serve our community for the foreseeable future. God’s plan for us is not to be stagnant. We desire to expand and produce fruit. We are open to and value growth and change, but we do also love the ministries and the worship service God has helped us to build. God has certainly challenged our willingness to change and adapt in the last two years. Our ministry approach (The Good Ship Grace), purpose, and core beliefs statement can be found on our Web site: https://sierrachristianchurch.org/. Interested candidates may request a copy of our Constitution and Bylaws. As a small church, we have had only one pastor since the founding of the church. Sadly, our pastor passed away in October, 2021, and that is why we are beginning the search for a new pastor. Because our leadership model is that of an elder-led church, major/important decisions fall to the entire leadership team as do the responsibilities and workload. Our expectations for the pastor are that he would be able to serve our church full-time, although we are also open to having a part-time pastor under the right set of circumstances. Responsibilities include, but are not limited to, preparing a weekly sermon for two services, leading a mid-week study, providing marriage and other needed counseling, participating in our weekly prayer meeting and men’s Sunday School class, providing sound guidance on the small group and Sunday school programs, visiting the sick and suffering from our church and community, providing sound Biblical guidance to our elders and church body, and performing weddings, funerals, and other ministry obligations as they arise. This may sometimes require availability at times that are inconvenient for the pastor and the pastor’s family. We don’t only ask this of our pastor. We ask our elders, deacons, and other members of the body who are mature in their faith to also support one another and not just when it is convenient. We currently have Sunday school for youth, but we do not have a youth group program. We see a ministry opportunity here as more youth are regularly attending on Sunday. We would want our pastor to be very involved in establishing a program for our youth as well as overseeing our children’s ministry. Our elders each have a role in the Sunday Worship Service. The pastor will also lead the body in taking the Lord’s Supper, but our elders share in the responsibilities of music, sound, security, offering collection, and making sure the elements are prepared for the Lord’s Supper. The elders, deacons, and spiritually-mature members of our church are our boots-on-the-ground for leading adult classes on Sunday, Wednesday, and Saturday, children’s education and nursery, weekly lunches, compassion ministries, prayer chain, and keeping the building operational; however, the pastor seems to be the first point of contact for our congregation when they have a need. We have a great support group for special events, such as baby dedications, baptisms, weddings, and memorial services, but the pastor has traditionally taken the lead in working with families and delegating tasks as he saw fit. We base our annual budget on an estimated average giving by our congregation of approximately $150,000. Among our highest priorities for that budget is supporting our pastor, missionaries, and ministries. We support missionaries to Mali, Africa; Baguio, Philippines; Redding, CA; and Sacramento, CA. We also support the Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry and local ministries such as our weekly lunch, community supper, and our pocket cross ministry.

Area description: Plumas County and our nearby public lands encompass over a million acres of tree-covered filled with hundreds of high alpine lakes and thousands of miles of clear running streams. Elevations range from 3,000 to 8,000 feet. The area has four seasons with warm to hot days and warm to cool nights in the summer, and periodic snowstorms in the winter. Within a half day or less drive are Lake Tahoe, Reno, Sacramento, Susanville, San Francisco, Redding, Chico, California coast, Lake Shasta, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and a vast variety of activities and opportunities. Popular activities within Plumas County and the Plumas National Forest include hiking, fishing, hunting, camping, boating, white water rafting, cross country skiing, snowmobiling, and wildlife viewing.

Community Information: Sierra Valley, CA: Sierra Christian Church is situated on the north-western edge of the Sierra Valley. Sierra Valley is the largest alpine valley in the lower 48, is located about 30 miles north of Reno, NV, and includes the communities of Beckwourth, Loyalton, Sierra Brooks, Calpine, and Sierraville, CA. The area is rich in beauty and history. Surrounded by a stunning mountain backdrop, the valley is dotted with ranches, old barns, and grazing cattle. Loyalton is the largest of the communities within the valley with a population of about 1,000 people. It offers different business and service establishments including a grocery store, a self-service gas station with a convenience store and mechanic on-duty, medical clinic, dental clinic, elementary school, junior/senior high school, a park with a baseball field, motel, and several restaurants. Portola, CA: The community of Portola is located 50 miles northwest of Reno, NV, at an elevation of approximately 5,000 feet. The community of Portola has a population of 2,000 with services including a hospital with physician’s clinic, public library, elementary school, junior/senior high school, two charter schools, a variety of churches, market, health club, new disc golf course, and several restaurants and motels. Rentals for a two-bedroom/one-bath home or apartment start around $1,000.00 per month, and real estate values for a three-bedroom/two-bath home start around $200,000. The bulk of our congregation reside in Portola. Blairsden and Graeagle, CA: The communities of Blairsden and Graeagle are located 60 miles northwest of Reno, NV, at an elevation of approximately 4,400 feet. Local community services include a market, hardware store, bakery, deli, pizza parlor, one full-service gas station, physician’s clinic, dental office, post office, and several restaurants and motels. There are four 18-hole championship and a 9-hole golf course within 15 miles of the church. Rentals for a two-bedroom/two-bath condominium start around $1,000 per month, and real estate values for a three-bedroom/two-bath home start around $350,000.

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