Associate Pastor Jobs in Edison, NJ (NOW HIRING)

Your purpose starts here! At Redeemer Downtown, you'll join an energetic and hard-working team that strives to cultivate a community experiencing renewal by the Gospel, raising up generations of disciples, living for Jesus in New York City.
Job Title: Assistant/Associate Pastor and Senior Director of Pastoral Care
Department: Redeemer Downtown
Reports to: Executive Director
FLSA Status: Exempt
Band: 9P
Wage range: $120,000 - $160,000/ year (commensurate with experience)
Work Hours: Full-Time (minimum 40 hours per week), work on Sundays, weekday work hours are generally flexible yet must be available for some evening and weekend meetings. In-Office is required for full-time roles on Mondays and Thursdays; Mondays only in July and August.
Start Date: August 2, 2026
POSITION SUMMARY
The Assistant/Associate Pastor & Senior Director of Pastoral Care & Leadership Development has the primary responsibility for the pastoral care and leadership development of Redeemer Downtown congregants, lay-leaders, and staff. This includes developing processes, policies, and training for pastoral care practices and facilitating leadership training programs such as Gotham, RAMP, and officer theological training. This position will oversee the Director of Community Life, who manages the Community Life team and programming, the Director of Men's Ministry and Missions, who oversees evangelistic programs and community programs for men, and the Diaconate Coordinator. This role also oversees the diaconate mercy ministry and provides key leadership for functions and activities. This position is open to teaching elders ordained in the PCA. Title and salary commensurate with experience. An overarching emphasis of this role is on shepherding and training leaders in line with our vision to be a community experiencing renewal by the Gospel, raising up generations of disciples, living for Jesus in the city.
JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Pastoral Care (45%)

• Responsible for the shepherding processes of the Downtown congregation
• Develop processes, policies, and training for effective pastoral care of congregants and leaders
• Maintain a highly visible presence in worship services, coffee hours, and congregational events through teaching, worship leading, prayers of the people, and scripture reading.
• Collaborate with pastoral staff, elders and the counseling center on pastoral care issues for mutual support, input and direction.
• Provide individual and group counseling
• Provide oversight of the diaconate and mercy ministry by acting as the pastoral liaison for the diaconate and diaconate board, reporting to senior leadership and presenting to the session regarding all diaconate activities
• Attend session meetings monthly and interface with the Session on discipline cases when appropriate
• Participate in the rotation of 'Pastor-on-Call' duties
• Oversee the Director of Community life to develop systems for group care and group multiplication

Leadership Development, Discipleship, and Christian Formation (40%)

• Collaborate with staff to recruit, equip, mobilize, and train leaders
• Gospel Coaching /shepherding of leaders for personal spiritual formation and professional development
• Help lead basic and advanced leader training sessions.
• Support of and participation in leadership and teaching of RAMP, Gotham, and emerging leaders cohorts
• Teach cohorts and classes, develop teaching content and help write weekly studies
• Oversee the Director of Men's Ministry and Missions to support robust programming for men, missional outreach, and prayer initiatives
• Collaborate with other directors for overall community formation, public faith culture, and to assume responsibility for group and leader growth
• Mentor and direct intern/resident(s) toward vocational development and city ministry skills
• Provide insight and expertise in development of content and execution of leader training meetings, including, Downtown leader meetings, retreats/conferences, and Sunday classes
• Serve as a member of the content committee to ensure the consistency of Redeemer Downtown content and curriculum
• Oversee the leadership development committee and the content committee

Preaching and Worship Leading (15%)

• Preaching at both 10 am and 5 pm services (approximately 6 Sundays a year)
• Lead worship at multiple Sunday services as needed.
• Perform pastoral and elder duties (baptisms, communion, marriage, etc) as called upon.

SKILLS REQUIRED

• Must become a member of Redeemer Downtown / Metro NY Presbytery
• Excellent organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills
• Dependable, team player with ability to take initiative and demonstrate strong communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Previous team / department leadership and counseling experience required
• Demonstrated experience in recruiting and developing leaders
• Demonstrated strength in preaching and teaching required
• Must be able to manage multiple projects and to work collaboratively within the structure and framework of the Redeemer Downtown team

QUALIFICATIONS

• Embrace Redeemer's vision of being a gospel-centered, city-positive and movement-minded church in New York City. Candidate should be aligned with the core theological principles of Redeemer and the Presbyterian Church in America including the Westminster Standards (Confession of Faith, the Larger and Shorter Catechisms). This position is open to teaching elders ordained in the PCA.
• Minimum four years of college and a theological degree from an accredited seminary or equivalent. Master's degree preferred.
• Minimum 10-15 years pastoral experience
• Understanding of pastoral care processes in a 'large' church (500+ congregants)
• Minimum 5 years experience overseeing Pastoral Care practices and processes

Full-time members of the Redeemer Downtown team, are offered competitive salaries, paid time off, and benefits, to include:

• Fully paid Medical Plan Premiums for employee-only coverage and nominal costs for dependent coverage
• Fully paid Dental insurance premiums, with dental buy-up plan option
• Fully paid Vision insurance premiums
• 403b Retirement, plus company contribution
• Redeemer-paid short-term disability, long-term disability and basic life insurance
• Voluntary accident, life, and AD&D policies for employee, spouse, and children
• Redeemer-funded HSA and HRA with elected high-deductible medical coverage
• Optional Limited Purpose FSA for dental, vision, and dependent care costs
• Transit / commuter benefit
• Counseling benefit

The wage range for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill set; experience and training; licensure, certifications, and ordination; and other organizational needs.
Use of Hiring Technology
As part of our recruitment process, we may use technology-assisted tools, including artificial intelligence (AI), to help review applications and identify candidates whose qualifications align with the requirements of the role. AI can assist us in evaluating skills, qualifications, experience, or certain keywords. These tools support, but do not replace, human review and decision-making.
While interviewers may record and transcribe interviews using AI tools, we do not utilize AI to evaluate or analyze interview videos. Recording of interviews is done solely for the purpose of note-taking or transcribing the conversation, and human review is conducted of the notes prior to connecting them with an applicant's file. The organization does not utilize Automated Employment Decision Tools to conduct video analysis of any recorded interviews, and is fully compliant with New York City Local Law 144.
The pay range for this role is:
120,000 - 160,000 USD per year (RDT)