Non-Denominational

WEEKLY ATTENDANCE: 160

Meet Snowmass Chapel

Snowmass Chapel is a nondenominational, dynamic community of faith made up of a diverse group of people and open to welcoming individuals of all faiths, age groups, and beliefs. Our motto, based on Matthew 22:37-40, is to Love God, Love People, and Love Yourself. We are proud to be known as “Something Kinda Different.” Our website, snowmasschapel.org, provides information about the Chapel, its staff, and its wide range of activities and programs. The Snowmass Chapel is the only church in Snowmass Village and is considered an integral part of the Village's spiritual and cultural heart.

Resort ministry is a different kind of ministry. Our church congregation consists of full-time and part-time residents as well as visitors to our resort community. The new Senior Pastor must have experience/a willingness to relate to a shifting population of tourists and seasonal attendees while at the same time renewing outreach to and welcoming local residents. Our year-round residents have a wide variety of needs, beliefs, experiences, and priorities that may differ from those of tourists or seasonal attendees. 

We are at the beginning of a building project that will refresh and expand our facilities to meet the needs of our current ministries and the community. We will begin by building a single-family, multi-bedroom manse for the Senior Pastor on the Snowmass Chapel property.

About the Senior Pastor

The Snowmass Chapel Board of Trustees is looking for a dynamic, mature leader. The Senior Pastor is selected by and reports to the Snowmass Chapel Board of Trustees (BOT) and is accountable to the Church of his/her ordination as appropriate. She/he works closely with BOT on all issues and on new directions for the Chapel. The Senior Pastor attends and participates in the monthly BOT meetings.

The Chapel attendees value fellowship with others, sermons that apply to daily life, a caring, friendly staff, a relationship with God, and a relaxed atmosphere. The Senior Pastor should have strong preaching skills, and can preach with an integrated focus on biblical truths and application to their daily lives. The Senior Pastor should be able to add a variety of scholarly resources and go deep to tie everything together. The Senior Pastor should be able to go beyond the lectionary notes to provide a clear, theologically grounded understanding of the passages.

The Senior Pastor position at Snowmass Church is open following the passing of Rev. Dr. Charla Belinski. Her faithful leadership left a meaningful legacy, and the congregation now seeks a new pastor to build on that foundation and guide the church into its next season of ministry.

The Senior Pastor's responsibilities include:

Management and Leadership

• A regular (and predictable) presence at the Chapel with office hours and responsive to the needs of the Chapel.
• Spiritual and executive leadership of the Chapel staff and the Associate Pastor.
• Oversee and provide a vision for Chapel mission implementation with Chapel Staff.
• Determine staff composition and oversee annual job performance reviews based on position descriptions and annual job objectives.
• Convene regular staff meetings to share vision, plan services and other Chapel activities/programs, build staff relationships, and facilitate an atmosphere of open communication and networking of staff skills in accomplishing the mission of the Chapel.

Congregational Development

• Develop or maintain a shared “pastoral care” ministry that empowers the Chapel to grow, including children and youth programs as well as adult and senior programs.
• Develop or oversee new “need-based” programs that commend the Gospel to specific members of the Chapel community.
• Continue well-established fellowship activities that nurture congregational relationships and welcome newcomers into the fellowship.

Worship Leadership

• Teach and preach the Word, administer Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
• Provide key leadership and make excellence in preaching a high priority.
• Preach the majority of the time (e.g., at least 40 out of 52 Sundays) and particularly at key time periods of preaching, such as the winter ski and summer seasons, including Christmas and Easter.
• Explore creative worship experiences in addition to the Sunday worship.
• Provide pre-baptismal and marriage preparation in the Christian understanding of the sacrament of baptism and Christian marriage.
• Oversee and create a music program of excellence, including varied musical genres. Our region is particularly rife with musicians and has a visible affinity for musicians. That means there is lots of talent in and around the area to use and recruit!

Pastoral Care

• Oversee and provide appropriate pastoral care for marriage, death, grief and loss, and celebrations. Focus on the people.
• Identify people who have the gift of “mercy,” provide Stephen’s Ministry training, and continue to grow our Stephen Ministry program.

Stewardship

• Attend to the annual and ongoing stewardship of the Chapel’s mission and ministry.
• Work closely with the BOT and staff in overseeing and instituting Chapel stewardship, budget planning, and oversight.
• Actively participate and lead (with the BOT) any capital fundraising activities for the manse and/or other potential buildings/improvements.

Chapel Programs/Activities

• Continue existing Chapel programs to share the Gospel with the community.
• Develop new outreach programs, which welcome seekers and visitors to God’s love in Christ and fellowship in the Chapel.

Community Engagement

• The Senior Pastor’s visibility and engagement with the community and community leaders are key components in establishing a new pastoral presence here. They are essential to the purpose of the Chapel. Over the years, the Chapel has worked tirelessly to become viewed by the community as an essential part of the Snowmass Village fabric. That charge has been led by our Senior Pastors, which we would like to continue in our next chapter.
• The Senior Pastor is expected to attend community events, interact with community leaders, and be familiar with community issues.

What you bring

The following describes many of the characteristics of the ideal candidate for the Senior Pastor:

Education and Experience

• Ordained minister in an orthodox Protestant Christian Church.
• At a minimum, a Master of Divinity Degree from an ATS graduate school, with a preference for an earned doctorate (e.g., Doctor of Ministries or Ph.D. degree).
• Prefer at least 10 years of pastoral experience.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong, vibrant faith in Christ and commitment to the Triune God’s mission to the world through the church.
• Gifted preaching and skilled liturgical leadership in our services.
• Notable emotional intelligence and ability to relate to a wide variety of people.
• Proven ability to work in and around a congregation filled with high achievers.
• Leadership of a team of professional staff.
• Visionary catalyst in “commending the Gospel to all persons,” evidenced through a track record of mobilizing the church for outreach to its community and beyond.
• Proven stewardship skills.

What it's like to live in Snowmass Village, Colorado

The Snowmass Chapel is located in the Town of Snowmass Village (TOSV), Colorado, at an elevation of 8,100 feet above sea level. The population of the town is approximately 3100 full-time, year-round residents. Snowmass Village is eight miles from Aspen, a town of approximately 7,000 residents, and is located in Pitkin County in an area known as the Upper Roaring Fork Valley. The TOSV was incorporated in 1978; the Snowmass Mountain Ski Area opened in 1967 with four lifts. In the ensuing years, Snowmass has evolved into one of the premier ski resorts in North America. Snowmass, along with Aspen, Aspen Highlands, and Buttermilk, comprises the Aspen Snowmass resort area operated by the Aspen Skiing Company. The population of Snowmass Village swells during the winter ski season and the summer resort season as second-home owners return and visitors come to the area to enjoy the active lifestyle they cherish in the mountains, including hiking, cycling, and golfing. 

In addition to being a well-known recreation area, Aspen-Snowmass is also recognized as a cultural center with the annual summer Aspen Music Festival, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Theatre Aspen, the arts, with Anderson Ranch sharing our campus, and the Aspen Ideas Festival at the Aspen Institute. It is a vibrant community with much of its draw and activities based around sports of all kinds – skiing (downhill, alpine, and Nordic), snowshoeing, golf, tennis, hiking, cycling, to name a few. In the summer, Snowmass Village is host to one of the few remaining rodeos in the United States. The Aspen School District includes one elementary, one middle, and one high school, which accommodate approximately 1,300 school-age children and serve the Town of Snowmass Village as well as Aspen. The schools share a campus on which there is also a District Theatre that is used for both high school purposes and professional performances. There is also a K-8 charter Aspen Community School, and the private Country Day School.