Director of the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry

POSITION SUMMARY

Reporting to the Vice President for Strategic Initiatives and Continuing Education, the full-time Director of the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry will be a creative thought leader in adaptive ministries and faithful innovation. The AIM director is a skilled collaborator who will work with the W. Don McClure Chair in World Mission and Evangelism in developing ecosystems that can nurture faithful innovation and adaptive ministry, cultivating resources and learning communities for revitalizing congregations, and forming new faith communities., and. An experienced administrator, the AIM Director will effectively implement programs inclusive of coordinating, mentoring, recruiting, and teaching in the Graduate Certificate in Adaptive and Innovative Ministry and the Graduate Certificate in Faith, Work, and the Common Good.

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• In support of the Seminary’s mission, the AIM Director will work closely with faculty and administration to cultivate leadership capacities in PTS students for communities yet to be gathered.
• Working with the Seminary’s admissions staff and missiology faculty, the Director will recruit, coordinate, and mentor the MDiv AIM Emphasis cohort and the cohorts for the Graduate Certificates in Adaptive and Innovative Ministry and Faith, Work, and the Common Good.
• Provide guidance for stewardship, sustainability, and funds development for those seeking to cultivate new faith communities and/or new ministries.
• Coordinate and facilitate collaborative learning opportunities for the AIM Graduate Network.
• Co-teach courses in certificate and degree programs relating to faithful innovation and forming new faith communities as needed.
• Build and sustain partnerships with networks and initiatives across denominational and geographic boundaries relating to new faith communities and faithful innovation.
• Together with the PTS Neighborhood Collaborative, identify and seek relationships with church, judicatory, academic, and individual partners in key contexts to start new ministries and churches, with a particular focus on communities that are currently and/or increasingly underserved by the Church.
• Identify and seek partnership with innovative and justice-oriented community builders in other sectors.
• Connect students with meaningful, innovative ministry calls around the country, building out a network of co-learners for faithful innovation.

QUALIFICATIONS/REQUIREMENTS

The Director of the Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry should be a person of prayerful discernment, who models attentiveness to God and the ability to reflect missiologically and theologically upon the work of new church development, revitalization, and faithful innovation. In addition, the candidate should:

• Demonstrated ability to build and sustain networks and partnerships.
• Entrepreneurial and innovative leading with experience administering programs in an academic setting.
• Experience with supervision of staff, volunteers, and/or student learners.
• Excellent communication skills, including written communication, public speaking, mentoring relationships, and emotional intelligence.
• Administrative skills, including the ability to organize, plan, and develop strategies for the future of the program.

EDUCATION/TRAINING/EXPERIENCE

Required

• Master of Divinity (or other theological degree).
• Relevant experience leading or participating in the development of a new worshipping community or innovative ministry.
• Appreciation for theological education.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

Hybrid: in office 3 days a week (T-Th); remote work 2 days a week (M and F). Occasional evening work and travel (10%) will be required.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYMENT

The Seminary affirms the commitment of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to a diverse workplace and equal opportunity. It also complies with all applicable federal, state and local laws and executive orders relating to equal opportunity in employment.

TO APPLY

Interested candidates should provide a cover letter, a complete CV or resume, and the names and contact information (phone and e-mail) for three references. Application materials should be submitted to careers@pts.edu. Women, BIPOC, and candidates from underrepresented communities are encouraged to apply.

Review of applications will begin on November 25, 2024; applications will continue to be accepted until the position is filled. Pittsburgh Theological Seminary will conduct a background check on all final candidates.

INSTITUTIONAL SUMMARY

Founded in 1794, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary is a graduate theological school of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Rooted in the Reformed tradition, the Seminary is committed to the formation of students for theologically reflective ministry and to scholarship in service to the global Church of Jesus Christ. Our faculty and educational resources cultivate theologically reflective and contextually engaged Christian leaders. Our programs nurture vocational formation for bearing witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our student body is comprised of Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists, Episcopalians, Orthodox, and more than 20 other traditions from more than 30 U.S. states and countries around the world.

CENTER FOR ADAPTIVE AND INNOVATIVE MINISTRY (AIM) SUMMARY

The Center for Adaptive and Innovative Ministry (AIM) is characterized by the creativity of its students, graduates, and collaborators. A programmatic department of the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary Neighborhood Collaborative, it serves as a convening and training resource, an equipping and broadening platform, and a trusting and collaborative learning ecosystem for communities familiar and yet to unfold, all in service to the Church.

AIM does this work through these strategic priorities:

• Relating and forming relational infrastructure within and beyond the seminary and within and beyond the Church.
• Facilitating trust through consistently excellent, holistic, embodied, formational programming.
• Leveraging communal creativity within and on the margins of the church familiar to respond more deeply and honestly to God’s movement in the world and to bring said wisdom to faithful community life within and outside the Church.

As a resource to the wider Church, the AIM program at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary cultivates likely and unlikely church innovators, so they might participate in God’s work to grow and gather widely varied Christian communities. Within the Seminary, AIM coordinates the New Faith Communities Emphasis in the Master of Divinity Program, the Graduate Certificates in Adaptive and Innovative Ministry and Faith, Work, and the Common Good, and the AIM Graduate Network. Outside the Seminary, AIM serves churches and leaders through continuing education events, conferences, coaching, and consulting.