Job Description

MinistryHub is honored to partner with the Riverside Church in their search for an Executive Minister. Please direct all applications through MinistryHub and any inquiries to [email protected].

Who is Riverside Church?

We are an interdenominational, interracial, international, open, welcoming, and affirming church and congregation. The history of The Riverside Church reflects a transformation from a predominantly white Protestant congregation to a multiracial and multicultural church that has been at the vanguard of social justice advocacy, liberation theologies, LGBTQIA+ ministries and a witness that affects the full flourishing of all people. All ministry at Riverside Church must reflect the diversity of our congregation, city, and world. 

Love and justice are at the heart of Riverside Church and ever present in our witness. At Riverside, God is the God of the oppressed who stands with the poor and the outcast. We believe our work must transform individuals, communities, and systems. 

Position Summary 

The Executive Minister leads the strategy, management, and evaluation of The Riverside Church’s programs and has primary responsibility for the supervision, coaching, and development of the clergy program team. As a member of the leadership team, the Executive Minister plays a key leadership role in guiding Riverside’s mission and organizational success. This position oversees programs and clergy capacity building. 

Reports to: Senior Minister

Classification: Full-time, Exempt

Flexible schedule, Sunday-Thursday 

Salary: $175,000 – 190,000

Core Job Functions 

EXECUTIVE MINISTER 

• Oversees Clergy and Program Staff on behalf of Senior Minister. 
• Sits in the second chair in the absence of the Senior Minister.
• Participates as a member of the leadership team with the Senior Minister and COO. Plays a key role in the overall development, strategic planning, service delivery, and management of the church across multiple areas. 
• Participates in and provides leadership for church-wide learning, development, and culture-building activities. 
• Interacts with the Church Council as a thought partner and liaison to Commissions. 

STAFF DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 

• Directly supervises clergy to build their supervisory and managerial leadership skills to engage, encourage, empower, and motivate program staff. 
• Provides strategic guidance and coaching to clergy in program planning, management and implementation for increased effectiveness and accountability. 
• Sets expectations for program teams and monitors performance and progress 
• Leads effort in establishing staff goals and objectives and measures results against program impact, effectiveness, and other predetermined accountability parameters. 
• Provides leadership, and support to program teams to enhance their ability to collaborate effectively, leverage internal partnerships, and foster greater cohesion. 
• Collaborates with senior leadership to develop organizational policies, procedures, and protocols related to programs. 
• Cultivates relationships and establishes partnerships between different program areas, encouraging knowledge sharing, resource utilization, and collaborative problem-solving. 
• Determines staffing requirements to achieve program goals and objectives and participates in hiring decisions for new program staff. 

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AND MANAGEMENT 

• Leads programmatic development and implementation for the church, aligned with strategic priorities and ensures equity throughout. 
• Establishes measurable, achievable program area goals and objectives on an annual basis and monitors progress. 
• Oversees the coordination, integration, and delivery of programs and related activities. 
• Oversees the creation of templates, best practices, and standard operating procedures. 
• Promotes collaborative relationships between program areas and ensures that the expectations of members, partners, funders, and other stakeholders are consistently met. 
• Develops and fosters a high-performance, collaborative and accountable culture throughout program teams, aligned with core values and church commitments to equity and inclusion. 
• Works with clergy and teams to establish methods for evaluating program outcomes and leverages internal and/or external resources to inform program results. 
• Stays abreast of developments in the external environment of the nonprofit / religious sector and ecosystem; develops new program ideas and pilot projects that incorporates input from the community. 
• Collaborates with the COO and Finance Director to budget and monitor programmatic operations to ensure sound fiscal and systems management and provides guidance and oversight on budgets and financial monitoring to clergy. 
• Deploys resources efficiently and effectively toward church goals, working with teams to balance workload and activities. 
• Serves as thought partner and advisor to colleagues ensuring programmatic strategy and operations in close collaboration with areas such as finance, development, IT and data systems, and communications. 

Other duties as assigned by the Senior Minister. 

Qualifications 

• Master of Divinity degree required. 
• Membership and ordination in a recognized denomination i.e. American Baptist Church, United Church of Christ, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Episcopal Church, African Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Church, etc.
• 7+ years of experience in management or leadership roles, preferably in program leadership, development, or evaluation in the nonprofit / religious sector. 
• 4+ years of experience successfully supervising and managing staff and teams.
• Experience in a multi-cultural setting preferred. 
• Commitment to and heart for the liturgical calendar. 
• Ability to listen and effectively communicate with peers, staff, council, funders, and partners while managing relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. 
• Consistency and goal orientation, problem-solving aptitude, flexibility, creativity, and discretion. 
• Leadership capacity at team and organizational levels and in leading through change. 
• Proven track-record of building and managing projects from conception to completion. 
• Strategic, cross-functional thinker with a strong desire to move towards implementation and action. 
• Commitment to the church’s mission, vision, and values. 
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion while fostering a culture of belonging. 
• Commitment to collaboration and continuous learning at all levels of the organization 

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