OUR STORY

If there are two words about Harvest to encapsulate the start, it would be “humble beginnings”. Few may know that before it was one of the largest churches in America, it started as a home Bible study of 30 people. It was 1973 in Riverside, California that a 19-year-old Greg Laurie felt the call of God to lead this group. Through God’s guiding hand, Harvest Christian Fellowship was transformed from a small group into a church of 15,000 people at multiple campus locations in Southern California and Hawaii.

Longing to reach more people with Jesus Christ, this team began holding Harvest Crusades in 1990. For 30 years, these large-scale evangelistic events have reached millions of people, and hundreds of thousands of them have professed faith in Jesus Christ. Of these events, the largest live one-day evangelistic event in US history occurred at Harvest America 2016—350,000 people in attendance.

The proclamation of the gospel message continues to spread across the nation on the syndicated radio program called, A New Beginning, weekly television broadcasts on GregLaurie.tv, and many other great online resources to encourage people grown in their faith share the Good News with others.

From humble a Bible study to Harvest Crusades, the outpouring of God’s favor has allowed Harvest to reach millions of people all over the world with the gospel. Greg Laurie and the Harvest team continue to bring the gospel home each week at Harvest Christian Fellowship and across the nation to help people know God and make Him known.

“Looking back, I can see God’s hand at work from the very beginning. It has always been a part of God’s plan for us to know Him and make Him known.” —Greg Laurie

YOUNG ADULTS APPROACH

Harvest Young Adult Ministry encompasses those in the 18 to 25 age range. It seeks to create engaging environments for young adults and the leadership. The ministry seeks to help young adults grow deeper in their faith while strengthening relationships with one another and those outside of the church. This happens in and through both large and small group settings throughout the ministry.

GATHER

Friday evenings at Harvest are set aside for the Young Adult Ministry. The leadership desires to create a space where participants can gather with others to enjoy community, worship God and be challenged in their relationship with Jesus.

Harvest Young Adults is a place where one can come to learn more about God in a casual, non-threatening atmosphere. No judgment. No hostility. No ritual. Just real people seeking to be in relationship with a real God and other likeminded believers.

SERVE

The Friday gathering is simply one-part of the Young Adult Ministry- the real goal is that these young adults be contributing members of the larger Church and serve in and through ministry opportunities of Harvest.

Harvest believes young adults are the church, their attendance on Sunday mornings is crucial so that those older than them and those younger can glean from their perspective. Many of the young adults at Harvest serve on Sunday mornings as well. Many serve in the Kids ministries, others with Harvest Student Ministry. You'll see several young adults greeting at the doors whereas others are using their musical abilities on the platform of the Sunday service.

Harvest believes in doing life in community with others. This is where the Harvest Small and Study Groups make a tremendous difference. Small Groups are communities where people know your name! As you do life together with others, you will dive deeper into the church and your community. Groups typically meet in a variety of places like homes, parks, restaurants, coffee shops, and office buildings.

Young Adult Groups meet weekly on a seasonal basis. The focus is on a book of the Bible, theme, or character that moves through specific biblical content.

THE OPPORTUNITY AND CHALLENGE

LIFESTYLE LEADERSHIP

Perhaps the greatest need in the Young Adult Ministry is a highly relational person who puts people in front of the process, but still maintains an eye-on-the-prize of the organizational objectives. Though it is impossible to have relationships with each person in the ministry, the desire is to have a leader who has a natural relational draw (and ability to make people feel known). The paid staff are praying for someone who knows them well and models a life-on-life style of ministry, so they can do the same with the volunteers and the young adults in the ministry.

VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP

As Harvest Young Adult Ministry continues to grow, it is imperative that the new YA Pastor designs a ministry structure that is scalable to grow with the ministry. The NextGen ministry (as a whole) has a committed group of volunteers, but the Young Adult team must grow in the months to come. The leaders' desire to be trained with effective tools and methods to maintain safety, meet new students/young adults and partner with others well. Because of the high value placed on Small Groups, the traning of the small group leaders must expand so that all feel equipped to serve well.

Harvest is an amazing place to grow, lead, stretch and experience Spirit-empowered synergy with a Godly team while also being a part of seeing not only a local church, but a nation reached for Christ.

NEW METRICS

Ministry success is traditionally measured by the number of people attending the main gathering. In the case of the Young Adult Ministry at Harvest, Friday evening would be seen as that primary gathering, however, the primary goal is to see these young adults become fully-engaged in the life and body of the overall Church (Sunday morning and serving in/through a ministry).

In many ways the ministry is a bridge from a more program-based Student Ministry model to the larger church (worship and serve) model. The new Pastor's goal should be growth, but that growth should be measured in different ways. It won't just be about the number showing up on Friday night; metrics and goals could be oriented around the numbrer of young adults who get involved in serving in another minisgtry, those who get plugged into a small group and ultimatley the number who move to regular worship participation on Sunday at Harvest.

POSITION PROFILE

The Associate Pastor I provides spiritual and pastoral leadership to the body of Christ through the preaching, teaching and counseling of its congregants. This position assists, oversees and helps lead basic to moderately complex responsibilities for one or more of the various ministries of Harvest. The Associate Pastor I trains and mentors staff, as well as evaluates and determines staffing needs. They serve with integrity, honesty and knowledge that promotes the vision and direction for Harvest as established by the Senior Pastor.

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  Preach and teach regularly the Word of God.
• Support the Senior, Executive and Administrative Pastors and staff.
• Promote Biblical stewardship.
• Counsel church staff and members Biblically.
• Create, monitor and manage budgets for assigned ministries.
• Oversee the pastoral care needs of the staff and congregation; share with other pastors and lay ministers in hospital visitation, home visits, counseling, marriages and funerals.
• Mentor and evaluate staff in their respective areas of ministry by providing leadership in design and implementation of all church ministries.
• Evaluate and determine staffing needs to ensure programs are effectively aligned. Recruit, hire and participate in staffing decisions.
• Coach and develop, provide feedback, manage disciplinary process, up to dismissing staff.
• Conduct annual performance evaluation.
• Manage business, facility and logistical support functions.
• Maintain efficient and effective lines of communication with the staff and outside contacts.
• Monitoring the spiritual pulse of the congregation through review and accountability.
• Oversee development of and adherence to church policies and procedures.
• Maintain a healthy relationship with God that exemplifies a disciplined plan of personal integrity, which includes prayer, Bible study, financial giving and accountability.
• Physical requirements, with or without accommodation, include: long periods of sitting for counsel sessions, or Bible study for message preparation, repetitive hand motions due to keyboard typing for email communication or message preparation, long phone calls for biblical counsel and prayer, looking at the computer screen for long periods of time
• Duties are not exhaustive and are subject to change at any time.