Over its almost 75-year history, Westover Church has been blessed by the Lord with faithful men of God serving and leading the body as our Lead Pastor. Seeking wisdom from God's Word and following the leading of the Holy Spirit, these men have helped Westover navigate seasons of both celebration and challenge. Through it all, the Lord is ever faithful.
For the last 30 years, the body of Westover has been richly blessed to sit under the teaching and leadership of Pastor Don Miller. As we celebrate his retirement, we look forward to seeing who God has ordained and appointed for this next chapter in Westover's history!
The Position
Westover is prayerfully walking through the process of searching for our next Lead Pastor. After much prayer and input from leaders throughout the church, the Elders have developed the following candidate profile for our next pastor:
CHARACTER
The Lead Pastor meets all the requirements set out in the Constitution of Westover church, including scriptural mandates found in I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9 and alignment with the Statement of Beliefs found in Westover's constitution.
He maintains a healthy, vibrant, and growing relationship with Jesus.
His relationship with his spouse is thriving and he builds into those closest to him, foremost being his family.
He is a steadfast man of humility, grace, prayer and love who maintains people who hold him accountable.
He evidences authenticity, steadiness, integrity, transparency and Christ-centered confidence.
He is continually growing, both personally and in ministry, regularly seeking to learn new ways of being and of doing ministry.
His identity is not found in the success of the ministry nor in those he serves, rather in Christ alone.
He seeks the glory of Jesus first in all things.
He works towards a balance of healthy living for body, mind, and soul.
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE
Minimum of a bachelor’s degree and a Master of Divinity or comparable graduate degree preferred
Minimum of 5 years of experience as a lead pastor or comparable experience as an associate pastor/campus pastor of a medium to large congregation; preaching/teaching in the context of a teaching team, discipleship development, and communication
A deep commitment to Missions that has been evidenced in previous employment
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
SKILLS/KNOWLEDGE: Excellent oral and written communication skills, strong interpersonal skills, gifted communicator and expositor of God’s Word, high relational bent with an emphasis on caring for staff and leaders
LEADERSHIP: Engaged as a humble leader of leaders, especially spiritually
PASSION: Zealous and industrious in ministry to expound God’s Word, to equip leaders to do the work of the ministry.
DOCTRINAL POSITION: Embraces Westover’s essentials as outlined in the Constitution of Westover Church
ROLE: This is a full-time pastoral position; must be ordained and licensed
To help facilitate the search and bring awareness to the position, Westover has partnered with Vanderbloemen Search Group, an executive search firm that helps faith-based organizations build great teams through staffing and consulting. We are excited for the opportunity to work alongside Vanderbloemen together, and are committed to finding Westover's next Lead Pastor.
A complete overview of the opportunity can be found on Vanderbloemen's website. All interested candidates should apply directly through Vanderbloemen.
The Process
Westover's Lead Pastor Search process follows the guidelines laid out in our church's Constitution (pages 14–15) including the makeup of the team and the steps the search team takes to find and approve a candidate.
Throughout this season we are committed to keeping you, the Westover Family, informed about what this process looks like and where things currently stand. In doing so, we trust the Lord will work in and through us, preparing us for a new season of welcoming our next Lead Pastor. If you have questions, comments, or feedback about the Lead Pastor Search, please contact us via email at leadpastorsearch@westoverchurch.com.
Throughout the search process, we desire to remain constant in prayer, trusting the Lord to lead us forward in HIS perfect timing. During the current step of our search, we invite you to pray with us in the following ways:
Pray that the Search Team will continue to experience unity as they go deeper into the interview process.
Pray that God continue to give the Search Team energy during the process, for wisdom and discernment as they conduct in-person interviews.
Pray specifically for the remaining candidates, that the Lord would be preparing them for the transition to Westover.
Pray the Lord will be at work in us, the Westover body, preparing our hearts as we pray Psalm 139:23-24.
After much prayer and consideration, together the Westover Elders and Deacons confirmed seven individuals forming the search team to work in concert with Vanderbloemen Search Group during our Lead Pastor Search. This team was assembled following the guidelines established in the Westover Church Constitution. The Team has elected Spencer Tilley to serve as Chairman, and Bruce Nichelson as Secretary.
Tracey Allred (Member-at-Large)
Tracey and her husband, James, have four children and have attended Westover for 10 years.
"We love Westover and are invested in the community and mission of the church. We've seen God at work in so many ways in the years we've been at Westover, and we know that God has a plan for the church as we transition to new pastoral leadership. I feel honored to be a part in the search and believe that God has placed me on this team for such a time as this. " - Tracey Allred
Kevin Cox (Off-Session Elder)
Kevin and his wife, Kim, have two children and have attended Westover for 19 years.
"I have been so thankful over the years for how God has used the Body of Christ at Westover to draw me and my family closer to Him and deepen our love for our neighbors across the street and around the world. With this heart of gratitude for what God has done, I'm excited to get a glimpse of what God is going to do in the years ahead. My prayer is that we will be totally open to HIS leading in this process." - Kevin Cox
Korky Kemp (Inactive Deacon)
Korky and his wife, Helen, have 3 children and have attended Westover for 22 years.
"Ever since Helen and I got married in 1999, we have enjoyed the solid biblical teaching and church community at Westover. Some of our best friends in Greensboro came out of the Young Married Class from 20 years ago. Our children have been raised under the leadership of Westover Kids. It is an honor to serve on the Search Team for our new lead pastor, and my heartfelt prayer and confident expectation is that the Lord will call a lead pastor who rightly handles the Word of God, proclaims the splendor of Jesus Christ, and shepherds this church in truth and grace for decades to come!" - Korky Kemp
Carly Merritt (Member-at-Large)
Carly and her husband, Jimmy, have three children and have been attending Westover for 25 years.
"My family started attending Westover when I was in middle school and we have been here for the last 25 years! I have a passion for serving in children’s ministry and my heart for our Westover family is to see us continue to grow in the Gospel and mature as followers of Christ. I am excited for God to reveal the pastor He has chosen for our church!" - Carly Merritt
Jason Moore (Inactive Deacon)
Jason and his wife, Michelle, have two children and have attended Westover for 22 years.
"While we have so much to be thankful for in our near 75 year history, I believe God is preparing Westover for our next season. As the world changes around us, I desire to see us remain faithful to the Gospel and to our community. I believe God is preparing our next pastor to lead us in that direction. I am excited to see how God will be glorified, how He will unite and strengthen us in the coming months, and how He will prepare us for what is next." - Jason Moore
Bruce Nichelson (Off-Session Elder) – Secretary
Bruce and his wife, Vicki, have two children and have been attending Westover for 29 years.
"I love that Westover is a Gospel-centered church and that will be my focus for any pastor candidate." - Bruce Nichelson
Spencer Tilley (Off-Session Elder) – Chairman
Spencer and his wife, Gracia, have two children and have attended Westover for 35 years.
"Westover has always been near and dear to my heart. Although the current church looks different in many ways than the original church, our purposes and goals have not changed. We were married by John Willett and have seen the enormous benefit of the community through these years that has been poured into us and our children through the body at Westover. We have benefited from the cross-generational influence here and would desire that future generations have that same opportunity to mature and grow in Christ and to develop those relationships with other believers that so characterized the early church as seen in Acts 2. I am encouraged as to how God has grown and used Westover through the years and look forward to His choice of our next lead pastor who will follow in the steps of such a long line of faithful pastors here." - Spencer Tilley
During this stage, Vanderbloemen Search Group acts as an initial filter on all applications received for the position of Lead Pastor at Westover Church. Applications are evaluated by the firm based on a job description and set of criteria provided by Westover. Upon assembling a set of qualified candidates, Vanderbloemen presents selected candidates to the Search Team for prayer, review, and consideration.
The vetting, consideration, and recommendation of the Search Team includes the following:
Reviewing all material prepared by Vanderbloemen on each of the candidates. This involves listening to multiple sermons, reading résumés, viewing church websites, and exploring other available information for each viable candidate.
The Search Team will conduct an introductory video interview with each candidate. Following this introductory interview, the Search Team will then determine which of the candidates to consider further, and may deem it necessary that some candidates be removed from consideration.
A second, more in-depth video interview will be conducted for all remaining candidates.
The final step in evaluating candidates involves face-to-face interviews with the candidates.
Select members of the Search Team will visit the candidate in his home as well as attend a worship service at his home church.
Once the Search Team has fully vetted all final candidates, a candidate can be refered to the Elders for final consideration after a two-thirds vote from the Search Team.
This stage of the search process provides ample time for the Elders to investigate and review the candidate(s) recommended by the Search Team.
The Elders will review the information and evaluations accumulated by Vanderbloemen and the Search Team for the final candidate.
The candidate and his family will be brought to Greensboro for a weekend visit. This will include activities such as dinners, interviews, touring Greensboro, visiting the church, and attending a morning service.
The Elders will ask Vanderbloemen to conduct final reference checks and a detailed social media investigation.
With a minimum two-thirds positive vote of the Elders, preparations will be made for the candidate to preach a trial message at Westover in preparation for the congregational vote on the candidate.
Westover Members (the “Members”) will be notified of a congregational meeting at least 8 days prior to the meeting which will occur on a Sunday morning. At the meeting, the Elders will present the final candidate to the Members for a vote of affirmation and the Members will vote on the candidate.
Members must be present to vote. Only registered Members are eligible to cast a vote.
Constitutionally, the candidate needs to receive two-thirds support from the Members present at the congregational meeting.
