Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community is a church of both the Presbyterian Church USA and the United Methodist Church. Pastors of any denomination that is a Full Communion Partner may apply.

PC(USA) pastors, please use the CLC system. Others may submit resumes to Lauren Wolcott (ruling elder) at lauren.wolcott@gmail.com.

Mission

Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community is where you are loved, fed, and affirmed as your whole self, because Jesus welcomes all.

Duties

• Assist the congregation in creative visioning for their future, following the sale of their building and relocation to a new neighborhood.

• Build neighborhood connections with organizations of similar values and passions.

• Perform administrative leadership, providing the lay leaders who have been all-hands-on-deck an opportunity to be nourished by the community once again.

• Preach, preside over Communion (weekly), work with the volunteer worship coordinator to plan and coordinate worship services.   

• Provide for pastoral care, and support congregation in caring for marginalized groups such as LGBTQIIA+ and  homeless communities. Ensure programs are accessible to all bodies and abilities.

• Clearly communicate with lay leadership, staff and congregation through technology or in person.

• Serve as Moderator of the Council, upon approval by Presbytery. Attend ministry team meetings as needed.  

Vision for Ministry

The vision statement of Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community is: To see wholeness – no more lonely, hungry, hopeless, or homeless in Pittsburgh – and for every person to understand their belovedness.

Hot Metal has a long tradition of creating a spiritual home for people who may be considered the last and the least by other congregations. Whether that be the spiritually traumatized, the disillusioned, the homeless, the queer, the addicted, the deaf, the chronically ill, or the ones who are simply tired of the Church as usual, here they are the beloved community.

Our ministry is to tell people over and over that God loves them — no caveat or conditions. At Hot Metal we have a saying: everyone is hungry for something. We feed that hunger physically, socially, and spiritually.

Community Context

Our context is changing as we sell our building in order to invest in our future. We are looking for adaptive leadership to think creatively about how this mission can move with us. But we believe the Church is the people, not the building they gather in.

It is important to note that we are coming from a very difficult season for our community which leaves most of our leaders burnt out. We are collectively in need of some spiritual respite in order to revive our energy, joy, and creativity. Our recent history is a pastor departure right after the pandemic, right after our founder's departure... it's been years of bumpy roads & heavy reliance of lay leadership.

And yet, our clarity of mission and commitment to our call hasn't wavered and is what's keeping us moving forward. But we are well aware of our need for full-time direction.

(Note: No contract can be activated until the sale of our building is complete due to financial constraints.)

Staff/Volunteer Relationships

We have a staff of 5 part-time positions: office manager, financial manager, custodian, Table (free meal) manager, and ASL interpreter.

Our congregation as a whole has become quite small following a series of challenges, but the members who remain are active and bold. Most members have at least one volunteer role, and some of us have much too many roles.

Necessary Skills

To be a successful Bridge Pastor for Hot Metal, they will have to be flexible, open to embracing a wide varieties of identities and beliefs, readily able to love people with profound need, and have a knack for connecting organizations for shared mission.

Ministry Responsibilities

• Leading a weekly worship service will be the most steady duty.

• Assist in transferring, handing off, or ending existing ministries with grace and care.

• Helping to follow the passion of the church in creating new ministries or assisting external ministries.

• Initiating joy-filled moments, whether spiritual, service, social, or educational.

• Prepare the congregation to call a long-term pastor at the conclusion of one year.