DON'T USE PEOPLE TO BUILD MINISTRY. USE MINISTRY TO BUILD PEOPLE.
This has been something core to our church for a long, long time. Before we plant anything, we need leaders. Not people chasing a title or a platform. People who've been formed, whose character can carry the weight of leading when things get hard, because they will.
So we've built a pathway to extend on the philosophy of ministry we’ve always had, and to make sure the leaders we’re raising are prepared for whats to come.
So we've built a pathway to extend on the philosophy of ministry we’ve always had, and to make sure the leaders we’re raising are prepared for whats to come.
HEAD:
What you need to know
You'll dig into theology, Scripture, and the why behind how we do ministry at The Rocks.
What we want is leaders who can say, "This is what Scripture says, and this is how we got here," not just "This is what The Rocks believes." That means being able to sit with someone in their hardest questions about suffering, sexuality, doubt or the problem of evil, and actually walk with them through it.
Formal theological study is part of this, and it runs alongside the pathway, not before it. You don't need a degree to apply. We'll share more about study expectations for each role soon.
HEART:
Who you're becoming
Here's the thing no one tells you about leadership: pressure doesn't create character. It reveals it.
Every leader carries stuff. Old wounds, hidden shame, patterns we picked up from our families that we swore we'd never repeat. Left alone, those things don't stay quiet. They show up at the worst possible moment, usually when a whole church is watching.
So we're going to take the heart seriously. You'll walk through spiritual formation together as a cohort, with some great content and practices to get into the grit of your inner life. We also want to support you with access to counselling, because it's far better to deal with your junk now than in the middle of leading a church.
You won't be doing this alone. Our existing staff team will be walking through parts of this journey too, that's how important we think this is.
Every leader carries stuff. Old wounds, hidden shame, patterns we picked up from our families that we swore we'd never repeat. Left alone, those things don't stay quiet. They show up at the worst possible moment, usually when a whole church is watching.
So we're going to take the heart seriously. You'll walk through spiritual formation together as a cohort, with some great content and practices to get into the grit of your inner life. We also want to support you with access to counselling, because it's far better to deal with your junk now than in the middle of leading a church.
You won't be doing this alone. Our existing staff team will be walking through parts of this journey too, that's how important we think this is.
HANDS:
What you can actually do
You'll start in the places nobody sees, just like Jesus - he spent the first 30 years of his life in total anonymity!
For your first couple of months, you'll serve with our facilities team. Painting. Carpets. Storage. Maybe toilets. We're not joking.
Why? Because underneath every leader is one question: how badly do you actually want to serve if nobody sees you doing it?
From there, you'll carry real ministry responsibility, not simulated responsibility. You'll get exposure across our departments and then go deeper in one or two ministry areas where your gifting, passion and experience line up. Along the way, you'll build the skills churches often leave unspoken: communication (not just from a platform), decision-making, problem-solving, situational awareness, teamwork and managing your workload.
For your first couple of months, you'll serve with our facilities team. Painting. Carpets. Storage. Maybe toilets. We're not joking.
Why? Because underneath every leader is one question: how badly do you actually want to serve if nobody sees you doing it?
From there, you'll carry real ministry responsibility, not simulated responsibility. You'll get exposure across our departments and then go deeper in one or two ministry areas where your gifting, passion and experience line up. Along the way, you'll build the skills churches often leave unspoken: communication (not just from a platform), decision-making, problem-solving, situational awareness, teamwork and managing your workload.