Menlo Church
In the next 10 years Menlo Church hopes to reach 3% of the Bay Area for Jesus. This will involve a collective effort but a significant part of that vision is reaching the next generation and empowering them to bring the hope of Jesus wherever they live, learn, work, and play.
Expected Work Hours: FT 40hrs/Week Exempt
Expected Monthly Pay: $20/hour + benefits + housing stipend
The following is a Q&A with Brett Koerten, NextGen Director and Scott Palmbush, Exec Pastor for Campuses
What are your greatest hopes and dreams for the next couple of years for your church?
We recently celebrated 150 years as a church. As we look forward to the next 150 years, we set our sights on reaching more people with the good news of Jesus. In the next 10 years we hope to reach 3% of the Bay Area for Jesus. This will involve a collective effort but a significant part of that vision is reaching the next generation and empowering them to bring the hope of Jesus wherever they live, learn, work, and play. Our hope is to partner with other churches and ministries to see revival come to this area.
Why did you choose to do a residency & what are you hopeful will happen through this process?
We want to invest in the next generation of leaders knowing that they are the future of the church. We believe that God has uniquely positioned our church in the heart of the silicon valley to reach the people who are changing the world, and we want to help develop leaders who will share this passion and be equipped to make a difference. Our hope is that we will be able to develop and launch leaders who can bring the gospel to an ever changing world.
What is it like to work on staff there?
Our staff is very team oriented, thoughtful, and fast paced. We spend one day a month togethe as an entire staff to grow relationally, spiritually, and on mission together. We recently launchedour Hope for Everyone initiative, which has brought new life and excitement around what God is going to do in our church and the larger Bay Area. As a multisite church we enjoy the benefits of our own local teams, but also the larger team that works collaboratively together. We also like to have fun during staff happy hour and things like our bike riding club.
Does your church’s website state the mission, vision, values and key distinctives of your church? Please paste the link:
Yes, the website is geared toward the public (rather than insiders) but has all the relevant information: https://www.menlo.church
Please describe the current staff structure.
We are a multisite church with 4 campuses and a central ministries team.There is a lead team made up of the senior pastor and three executive pastors. Each campus team is led by a campus pastor. Campus staff have a dotted line relationship to a Central Ministries leader, who shapes the vision and direction for that specific ministry. For example, each campus has a Student Director who reports to the campus pastor and has a dotted line relationship with the NextGen director. Each student director partners with the NextGen Central team and student directors from other campuses to lead the student ministry.
What qualities does it take to “win” on staff at your church?
● Team builder - you must be able to recruit and develop volunteers to help lead ministry.
● High capacity - ministry is constantly moving and you need to be able to stay engaged in what is currently happening while also staying focused on the future.
● Team player - As a multisite church, we frequently work with other staff members to help accomplish our mission and vision. Need to be able to work collaboratively while moving things forward.
Who will the resident report to? Will there be a different person acting as coach? What do you know about their personalities (enneagram, DiSC, Strength Finders, etc.) Have you given thought as to what type of personality will work best with them?
Report to Brett Koerten, NextGen Director - (9 on the Enneagram)
Coach is Scott Palmbush
Are there particular assessment tools that you prefer when exploring potential staff people?
Working Genius / Enneagram / ProScan
Are you affiliated with a particular denomination or tribes/association of churches? If so, what websites could one investigate to gain further understanding?
ECO - https://eco-pres.org
What are the key doctrinal and theological issues where alignment is essential?
Egalitarian - enthusiastic support of women in all areas of ministry
Reformed Theology - understand and support infant baptism
Traditional view of marriage and gender
What is your average weekend attendance?
2500 (adults+kids+students)
In general, what is your church demographic?
Highly educated and resourced - lots of Ph.Ds / high income
Older white and younger asian - Over 50% asian and growing at several campuses
Parents value education and school activities/participation.
Most are connected to the tech industry in some way
Is there more than one site or venue? If so, please describe.
We have 4 campuses: Saratoga, Mountain View, Menlo Park, and San Mateo.
The campuses range from an average total attendance of 350-1000.
How many conversions has your church had in the past 12 months? (however you define this and whatever you count)
We generally use adult baptism as a proxy. The two baptism Sunday opportunities this year had over 50 people present themselves to be baptized.
What percentage of people are involved in a small group?
A little over 50% are in some kind of group experience. This year we also launched a new set of discipleship groups we call Cohorts. These are invite only and set up to be intentionally deeper and more challenging.
What is your church known for in the community?
Menlo Church recently celebrated 150 years of ministry and is a well known partner in the communities we serve. Many in our congregation actively serve local schools and cities in various capacities. We are also known for the quality of our ministry programs and worship services.
How much are you planning on financially compensating your resident? Is it set or is it flexible?
We will start with $20/hour for pay. Menlo also has generous benefits including health, vision, dental, disability, and unlimited PTO. In addition we will offer either a housing stipend or a living situation with reduced rent. There is some flexibility in the way this all comes together.
What are the expected work hours and what does a typical workweek look like for this resident?
This is expected to FT which includes work assignments along with time for study and learning. The position will be with the central team so the resident will be able to serve in a variety of ways at each of our campus locations under our central leader for next gen.
For ministry related positions the work week is Sunday - Thursday. In students, there will also be occasional events/camps that will require work on Friday and/or Saturday. Generally the workday is 9am-5pm but can be adjusted depending on evening programs. Also the standard is in-person work on site.
What else would you say to a resident considering joining your team?
The Bay Area is a very unchurched area which is both a challenge and opportunity. This is especially true for students. We are passionate and dedicated to our mission and vision and love it when new people join the team. Growing and learning together is a gift. We hope that you share our excitement and passion for reaching students with the hope of Jesus!