Worship Leader and Preacher

The First Parish in Cambridge seeks a ¼ time minister or qualified seminarian to help provide leadership for our morning worship service three Sundays per month. The worship leader and preacher will collaborate with our Lead Minister Rob Hardies and Director of Music Jen Hayman to help create dynamic, joyful and beautiful worship at First Parish that consistently speaks to congregants’ hopes, hurts, and spiritual longings. They will also be available for occasional on-call emergency pastoral care when our Lead Minister is away.

Primary Responsibilities

• Serve as liturgist 2 Sundays per month, creating and leading pastoral prayers and other worship elements, including an occasional children’s story.
• On a 3rd Sunday each month, serve the above roles and—often—preach.
• Coordinate the participation of lay worship leaders, guest preachers and other worship participants when Lead Minister is away.
• Work with office staff and Director of Music to assure that Order of Worship is created in a timely manner.
• Assure that all worship participants are aware of their roles and prepared for worship.
• Prepare and deliver sermons that speak powerfully to both head and heart.
• Be a warm, welcoming and joyful presence in church on Sunday mornings.
• Be present on Sundays before service and afterwards during coffee hour/lunch to greet and welcome people and build relationships.
• Maintain the consistency, quality and integrity of the First Parish worship service from week to week.
• Attend annual half-day “worship summit” for the purpose of training lay and professional worship participants and creating a shared vision for worship at First Parish.
• Attend monthly staff meetings.
• Provide occasional on-call emergency pastoral care when Lead Minister is away.

Desired Skills and Experience

• Strong preaching and worship leadership skills and experience.
• Warm, welcoming and joyful Sunday morning presence.
• Passion for creating worship that touches and inspires people.
• Ability to compose and deliver sermons that speak powerfully to both head and heart.
• Good listener and caring pastoral presence.
• If candidate is a seminarian, it is preferable that they will have completed one unit of CPE as well as a ministerial internship.

Hours, Reporting and Compensation

This is a 10 hour-per-week position that requires on-site presence at First Parish on three Sundays per month, as well as some flexible time throughout the week for worship and sermon preparation, and occasional emergency pastoral care. The position reports to our ¾ time Lead Minister, Rev. Rob Hardies. Rev. Hardies is on-site in Cambridge two Sundays (and a total of 8-10 days) per month, and otherwise works remotely from Washington, DC. The goal of this position is to establish, along with Rev. Hardies, consistent ministerial leadership and presence on Sunday mornings.

For an 11 month contract (August through June), we are offering a salary of $18,450, which is consistent with UUA guidelines for a “director level” ministry position. We also offer $1000 in professional expenses, and a 10% retirement contribution for those who qualify for the UUA Retirement Plan. We do not offer any other benefits for this part-time position.

How to Apply

The First Parish in Cambridge is committed to building a diverse and talented staff team. People with disabilities, people of color, indigenous people, Hispanic/Latinx and LGBTQ candidates are encouraged to apply. If you are excited about this role but are unsure whether you meet 100% of the requirements, we encourage you to inquire and/or apply.

Please send a cover letter and resume, along with video or audio links for at least three sermons and worship services to rhardies@firstparishcambridge.org. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis, and priority will be given to applications received by Friday May 17. We hope to select a candidate no later than early June.