General Information
Job Title:
Senior Pastor
Job Description:
The senior pastor will serve as spiritual leader, advisor and overseer of the congregation. He will head the leadership team and be responsible for the pulpit ministry and services; provide Biblical vision and leadership, working with leaders to implement the vision; provide Biblical counseling; lead the church in evangelism and outreach; train believers for works of service; exposit the Scriptures in teaching and preaching; love the people of the church and shepherd them, including visiting the sick and house-bound; help the congregation establish Biblical financial and ministry priorities; perform weddings and funerals; and support and encourage the various ministries of the church and those who lead them. The church would like the pastor to help us move to a multiple elder model that retains congregational rule. The pastor should be Baptist by conviction, and should embrace and teach doctrine consistent with the tenets of our Articles of Faith. We are near a major university, and we would like the pastor help us have a greater visibility and impact on the campus.
Position Qualifications:
Highly qualified candidates should have at least 3 years’ experience in full-time ministry plus an M.Div. or equivalent. Salary is negotiable and depends upon education and experience, but will range from $60,000-$75,000. We will provide detailed information about TBC, including articles of faith, history of the church, financial information and community demographics for applicants we believe would be a good fit for the church.
Application Deadline
04/01/2025
Job Type:
Full Time
Salary Range:
$55k-$70k
General Information
Church/Organization Name
Trinity Baptist Church
Contact Name & Contact Info
Industry
Church
Denomination
Baptist
City, State
Muncie, IN
Description of Organization
Trinity Baptist Church:
Location: Trinity Baptist Church is located at 5000 N. Morrison Road in Muncie Indiana, about 1.5 miles north of Indiana 332/McGalliard Road. McGalliard Road is the main connecting road from Muncie to I-69 (Exit 241) and serves as the principal commercial thoroughfare in Muncie.
McGalliard Road runs east/west across the north side of Muncie, with the Muncie Mall at the east end and an assortment of “big box” stores (such as Wal Mart), car dealerships and hotels at the west end. Trinity Baptist church is in the northwest corner of Muncie, about 1.5 north of Wal Mart and 3 miles from Ball State University. The church is in a semi-rural setting but is near several modern housing developments, apartments that cater to Ball State students, and a retirement community.
Affiliation: Trinity Baptist Church (TBC) is affiliated with the Crossroads Fellowship (formerly known as the Indiana Fellowship of Regular Baptist Churches: IFRBC) and the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches (GARBC). TBC is Baptist by conviction and is independent, theologically conservative and evangelical.
Demographics: Muncie and its environs.
Muncie has a population of 65,076, with a metropolitan area of 112,301. There has been a gradual decline in the city’s population for several years. During the last 10 years, the city has lost about 4100 people, representing an annual decline of 410 people or about 6.5% in 10 years. The decline is likely related to a shift from a manufacturing economy to one based more on services and education. The two largest employers today in Muncie are Ball State University and IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital. Some 20 years ago, several manufacturing firms related to automotive parts would have been major employers.
Largest Employers in Muncie Employees
Ball State University 3379
IUH-Ball Memorial Hospital 2613
Muncie Community Schools 650
Navient Financial 633
Wal Mart (2 locations) 579
First Merchants Bank 551
Meridian Health Services 550
Magna Powertrain 535
Youth Opportunity Center 516
Progress Rail 500
City of Muncie 465
Delaware County Government 452
Delaware Community Schools 392
There is a heavy employment emphasis on education (4937 employes) health care (3163), financial services (1184), local government (917) and retail (579), besides manufacturing (1035). Thus, among the top 13 employers, the distribution is:
Education 41.8%
Health care 26.8%
Finances 10.0%
Manufacturing 8.8%
Local Government 7.8%
Retail 4.9%
What is missing from these statistics is that small businesses, particularly retail, likely comprise the largest number of workers, but they are not captured in this type of comparison.
The bottom line is that Muncie, once primarily a blue-collar manufacturing city, is now host to a very large white-collar segment (especially in health care, education and finance) along with many small businesses. Besides this, Muncie has a high poverty rate relative to the rest of the state. While the Indiana statewide poverty rate is 12.6%, the poverty rate in Muncie is 30.46%. This high poverty rate is believed to be due to the loss of manufacturing jobs, which has disadvantaged many unskilled workers.
Outside Muncie, Delaware county has several small towns. For most of the county, the main economic driver is agriculture, particularly corn, soybeans and hogs.
The median age in Muncie is 29. The median family income is $40,309, and the median property value is 2023 was $123,900. The average cost of a 2 bedroom apartment is $880. Overall, the cost of living in Muncie is quite modest with a cost of living index of 73.3 (against a national index of 100). Additional demographic information on Muncie can be found at https://www.bestplaces.net/city/indiana/muncie .
The US census reports that Muncie is 79.1% white; 10.1% black; 4.5 % multiracial; 2.1% Asian and 2.1% Hispanic.
One area of potential ministry is Ball State University. At one time, TBC hosted a campus missionary and many students attended our services. The past few years we have attracted a number of international students (mainly graduate students), medical students, and some medical residents, but have not had much impact on the undergraduate population. Ball State reports that they have 20,444 undergraduate and graduate students in 2024-25 along with 3379 faculty and staff. We currently have several Ghanian graduate students and a few faculty/staff members attending, but far fewer than we had when we had a robust presence on campus.
Muncie is conveniently located within driving distance to several large cities along with their shopping, cultural activities and airports. The Indianapolis area is about 50 miles via I-69, and the Indianapolis International Airport is 74 miles. Ft Wayne is about 15 miles farther, but the Ft Wayne International Airport is also 74 miles. Dayton and Cincinnati are 2-2.5 hours away.
Muncie offers many recreational and cultural opportunities, especially with the proximity of BSU. The university hosts performers, speakers, plays and symphonic concerts that also visit Big Ten universities. Cardinal Greenway is a more than 50 mile-long paved trail for cyclists and runners that passes through Muncie on its way to Richmond. Other entertainment is available within easy driving distance at Indiana Wesleyan University, Taylor University, several Anderson venues, and the Honeywell Center in Wabash. Ball State also offers Division I men’s and women’s sports and is a member of the MAC. Mounds State Park is just west of Muncie in Chesterfield, and boating can be done at Prairie Creek reservoir.
The Muncie area has 8 high schools, the largest of which is Muncie Central HS. BSU operates a laboratory school (Burris) which also hosts the prestigious Indiana Academy of Sciences and Humanities; the Academy trains gifted students from all across the state by invitation only. There is also one Christian School in Muncie (Heritage Hall Christian School) and five “county” schools that serve the rural countryside and nearby small towns. The list below shows the sizes and demographics of local schools.
Muncie Central 1326 students; 45% minority; 70% economically disadvantaged
Delta 800 students; 10% minority; 43% disadvantaged
Yorktown 793 students; 19% minority; 33% disadvantaged
Wes-Del 479 (grades 6-12); 6% minority; 52% disadvantaged
Wapahani 357; 7% minority; 44% disadvantaged
Cowan 379; 9% minority; 44% disadvantaged
Burris (hosts the Indiana Academy)
681; 25% minority; 28% disadvantaged
Heritage Hall Christian 183 students (K-12); 20.8% minority; disadvantaged NA
Summary: TBC is located in Muncie, Indiana, conveniently close to Indianapolis and Ft Wayne. The most important employers are in education, health care, finance and small business. Ball State University provides many cultural features as well as a great opportunity for evangelism among students and faculty. The city is surrounded by extensive farming, which supports the economy of the smaller towns. The median age is young (age 29) and there is a larger than usual economically disadvantaged segment. The cost of living is 27% lower than the national average, including housing. The church is located in the northwest part of Muncie, which is the area of greatest economic growth and highest property values.
A brief history of the church.
During the spring/early summer of 1988, two representatives (missionary DeElda Payton and Pastor Glenn Lockwood) of the Indiana Fellowship of Regular Baptist Churches (the IFRBC, now known as the Crossroads Fellowship) met with Dr Stuart Walker to discuss a need for additional Baptistic evangelical churches in the Muncie area. The Association offered to pay the salary of the church’s first full-time vocational pastor for two years. Dr Walker and his wife met regularly with a group of local believers who had been praying for an evangelical Baptist startup. After around six months of regular prayer and discussion, the group chose to organize as a local church. The name “Trinity Baptist Church” was selected by the congregation, and founding documents including a constitution, articles of faith and a church covenant were drawn up and agreed upon by the congregants.
The first service was held in Cardinal Hall of the Ball State University Student Center on February 14, 1989. About 50 were in attendance to hear a sermon by Rev. Stan Kempton. A search for a permanent pastor was begun. For the next 15-18 months the church met at BSU on Sunday mornings and evenings, and Wednesday services were held in homes with Dr. Walker serving as lay Pastor.
Rev. Jerry Benge was hired in 1990 as our first full-time vocational pastor. Jerry had strong desire to impact not only the community but also the Ball State campus. During that time we had several missionaries working on campus with para-church organizations; they encouraged the students they worked with to attend TBC, and we had a strong contingent of BSU students who attended service regularly. Jerry was a trained Biblical counselor and included counseling as a significant part of his ministry. He also was a strong supporter of children’s and teen ministries, and the church developed a strong AWANA program. Jerry also served as a chaplain for the Muncie police department, and several Muncie police officers attended TBC. Under Rev Benge the church moved from BSU to a rented site in a strip mall on the northwest side of town. The church grew numerically, and some Sundays attendance reached around 120.
During the late 1990s Rev Benge believed God was leading him elsewhere. He would leave to serve for a short time in Detroit and then felt God’s call to serve in the Ukraine; he has been since then a long-time missionary there.
Rev Phil Coppola followed Jerry Benge. Phil expanded the AWANA ministry and Wednesday evenings AWANA meetings involved 40 or more people. Under Rev Coppola, the church moved from the strip mall location to a stand-alone building in downtown Muncie. Our campus impact became somewhat less but children’s ministries were extremely strong. This was not surprising in that the church was composed mostly of young couples with children. Under Phil’s leadership the church was able to purchase some prime land on the northwest side of Muncie where we might be able to build one day.
Phil Coppola served several years, and then felt God’s call to the mission field. He and his wife left to become missionaries in Cambodia.
For several years Dr Glenn Lockwood, who pastored at Gray Road Baptist Church in Indianapolis, was a friend of the church. He had retired shortly before the Coppolas left the church, so when the pastorate became vacant, the church invited Pastor Lockwood to become our new pastor. After a period of prayer, he agreed to follow Phil Coppola as our pastor.
Under Dr Lockwood the church established a strong pattern of Bible study and application of Biblical principles. Dr. Lockwood came with the expectation that he would serve a limited number of years due to his age, but he accomplished a lot. During his tenure the church built the first phase of the present structure on Morrison Road with the assistance of Baptist Builders. There was less emphasis on AWANA ministry (although it continued for several years) and more emphasis on strong Bible teaching. The church attracted more young professionals as well as some older professionals from the BSU and local medical community.
When Dr Lockwood retired, the church hired Tim Raymond as its new pastor. Tim was fresh out of seminary and had a young family. He brought an even stronger emphasis on Biblical exegesis and study. Founding documents were revised and he particularly emphasized expository preaching. For several years there continued to be a strong draw on young professionals, and the church continues to attract a binary distribution of congregants, viz., older members who have been here from the beginning and young professionals from BSU and the medical community. The church has become more diverse, and consistently draws international students from BSU. We have had regular attenders from Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Africa and Ghana. In fact, one our current deacons is a graduate student from Ghana.
Under Tim Raymond’s ministry the church build an educational wing on the church, again with the help of Baptist Builders. The church expanded its support of overseas missions, but AWANA ministry was halted. Although we have a strong contingent of young families, other than International graduate students, we no longer have any significant impact on the BSU student community. Because so many of our families are young professionals in training, there is significant annual turnover as they complete their training and move on to new jobs away from Muncie. Thus, although we add new members regularly, the additions are often not reflected in attendance numbers due to counterbalancing move-aways. Nevertheless, under Tim’s ministry, the church has been financially strong and stable.
After 17 years of ministry at TBC, Tim Raymond felt God was calling him a different direction and he stepped down from the pastorate during the late Fall, 2024.
At this point, the strongest aspect of the church is that the members have a powerful commitment to knowing and understanding God’s Word as well as putting it in practice. We now had an opportunity to do a self-study through the Malfurs group. The study noted that the church has a strong financial record, is unusually generous in missions support, centers its mission on the Great Commission, and has an unusually high level of member participation in the ministries of the church. On the other hand, the church showed a lack of cohesive vision for ministering to the community, exhibits weak leadership, is weak in shepherding ministries, and lacks a well-executed and well-planned leadership training program.
The specifics of the doctrinal positions we take at TBC are outlined in our Articles of Faith. Very briefly, we are a congregational rule church that is Baptist by conviction. The Articles of faith are informed by the New Hampshire Confession of Faith (1833). The church takes a strong position on Biblical inerrancy and that salvation, along with perseverance of the elect, are all of God. The church is premillennial in eschatology and committed to make disciples of all nations. No single scriptural translation is mandated, but our most recent pastors have consistently used the ESV. Worship services use a mix of newer and traditional music, but the most important feature of the Sunday service is the expository preaching of God’s Word. Attendance in Sunday services ranges between 65 and 85, with most Sundays in the 70s.
As we look to the future, we would like to move to a multiple elder model while retaining congregational rule; create a strong vision for ministry; better train our people for leadership; reestablish ministry to the BSU community; and continue to be strong in Bible study, prayer and giving. We also need our new pastor to truly be a shepherd to our people. Along with young couples, we have a significant number of older adults; each group needs encouragement and help that is tailored to their specific needs.
With its location in the growth area of the city, a committed and diverse congregation, a membership committed to knowing and practicing God’s Word, a high level of membership participation in service, a strong financial position, and attractive facilities, we believe that TBC is well-positioned to move forward to a new level of growth and service to God’s glory.
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