Minister of Worship and the Arts

St. John’s Lutheran Church (ELCA) of Salisbury, North Carolina, seeks to call a full-time Minister of Worship and the Arts, inclusive of rostered and non-rostered individuals. With more than 275 years of history, St. John’s is a historic Lutheran church in North Carolina and boasts a robust music program, both traditional and contemporary. Our long-standing traditional worship service in our architecturally stunning 900-person sanctuary is rooted in the Lutheran liturgical tradition and is supported by a 72-rank Casavant organ, a 40-member chancel choir, two bell choirs, women’s ensemble, accompanists, and members who play the timpani and brass for festival services. Our contemporary worship service is held in a ten year old Faith Center with state of the art production equipment and is led by two staff worship leaders and a team of both hired and member led singers and musicians. Our congregation is also the home of the St. John’s Men’s Chorus, a 35-member community ensemble that performs concerts twice a year. The Minister of Worship and the Arts, along with our pastoral staff, leads our worship services as the primary organist, choral and instrumental director and as the supervisor to our other staff musicians and worship leaders.

Position Description:

Overview:

• Develop and implement the totality of our music program
• Serve as primary organist and choral director, rendering high quality musical art as a means of proclaiming the gospel
• Supervise assistant music staff and recruit guest musicians
• Coordinate community outreach by way of music and the arts

Primary Duties:

1.     Development and implementation
a.               Develop member musical talents and encourage a wide variety of instrumentation

b.              Oversee and have the opportunity to direct the Men’s Chorus, the Women’s Ensemble, and the Handbell Choir

c.               Provide direction for youth and children’s choirs

d.              Oversee purchase and maintenance of all instruments and music library materials

2.     Primary organist/Choral director

a.               Lead and oversee worship services throughout the calendar year

b.              Schedule and lead regular choir practice

c.               Support ministries and programs of the congregation as needed

3.     Supervision

a.               Supervise the work of musicians/instrumentalists, choir directors, contemporary worship leaders, production manager, associate Parish Musician and other contractors hired for musical events and the arts

b.              Recruit and nurture members for all musical groups and foster harmonious and supportive relationships between groups

4.     Outreach

a.               Educate the congregation in worship theology within the context of music proclamation

b.              Introduce the congregation and general community to a broad spectrum of church music styles, improvisations, compositions, and arrangements

c.               Offer consultation and music support to congregational families preparing for weddings or funerals

d.              Develop opportunities for outside performers and groups

e.               Foster ecumenical relationships with other churches

Scope of Influence:

The Minister of Worship and the Arts reports to the Senior Pastor and is delegated the authority to operate and develop his/her designated areas of accountability. As a supervisor, he/she will collaborate with the Worship and the Arts committees and Pastors to enrich the congregation’s spiritual life.

Required Qualifications:

• Be an accomplished organist, accompanist, and choir director with a broad repertoire and extensive experience in leading liturgical worship
• Have skillful improvisation, sight reading, transposition abilities
• Participate in the life of the church as a theological leader and pastoral presence
• Demonstrate the ability to lead music ensembles including, timpani, brass, strings and other musicians during worship and/or during concert performances
• Hold a relevant graduate degree or have equivalent high-level professional musical experience
• Have clear and effective communication skills
• Have a profound sense of ministerial calling and active faith life
• Display a willingness to incorporate new ideas and music into our worship life
• Possess a familiarity with Contemporary Christian Music and a willingness to supervise, work alongside and to incorporate our worship leaders and band into the overall worship life of our church
• Demonstrate familiarity with traditional Lutheran liturgy, hymnody, and the liturgical calendar
• Be supportive of all colleagues and be able to work collaboratively as part of a team

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to teach and lead discussions that deepen the musical knowledge and competency of the congregation
• Experience with children and youth musical programs
• Skilled at composition
• Proficiency with communication technology

Application Process

St. John’s has elected a Call Committee to oversee our search process, with support from Congregation Council and Personnel Committee.

To submit your application for this position please use the website link https://stjohns-salisbury.org/jobs/ submit your cover letter and resume. The application process is open from February 21, 2025 until April 21, 2025.

The St. John’s Lutheran Church call committee is committed to non-discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, gender, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or age.