Director of Worship Search
Ministry Profile
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Leadership and Oversight
The DM is responsible for advancing the mission of NSCC through our Sunday morning worship services, special gatherings of worship, and advancing a theology of worship in the church across all age groups. This role requires the selection of songs, constructing the weekly liturgy, preparing our worship guide and all components, scheduling and preparation of all participants, both staff and non-staff. The Director of worship not only leads with excellent musicianship and spiritual care, but by the careful watch over every element in our worship service.
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Team Development
The DM is the crucial leadership element to steward the worship-assisting and leading gifts of the congregation. Success in this role means that congregants understand the necessity of using their gifts for the worship of God’s people. They know that when committing to this ministry they will be challenged, trained and shepherded well. This role requires significant investment in team-building, and skills in recruitment, vision-casting, goal-setting and followthrough.
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Public Excellence
The excellence with which we execute our worship gatherings are not only a matter of devotion to God—we give him our best—but it is also an issue of hospitality for guests. To show the visitor that we are prepared for them, and that everything which happens in worship is not just empty ritual but essential for their faith, is a matter of the highest priority. We embrace both humble awareness of our limitations and the seriousness of this calling which leads our commitment to wise, consistent, and excellent management of people and resources.
Working at NSCC
This church was led for twenty years by one Senior Pastor until he retired in 2023. Under his wise and caring stewardship, North Shore maintained a high level of retention and currently has multiple staff members with more than ten years serving. The Session is committed to a significant investment in church employees, offering competitive benefits (strong vacation allowance, matching 403(b), HSA, family enrichments) as well as annual reviews of each staff member’s professional development, job satisfaction, and personal growth. The church community itself is generous and caring, though hyper-driven. We are, roundly, 1/3 caucasian, 1/3 asian, 1/3 hispanic. While we have developed a close core of local Oyster Bay residents, it is not unusual for a family to drive 30 minutes or more to attend worship.
Under the current Senior Pastor’s leadership, James Kessler, our team has a strong collaborative style, with monthly strategy sessions on a variety of topics affecting our mission. The Staff at NSCC is deeply connected to one another and to the work of the church at the highest levels.
Compensation for this role will be affected by qualifications and experience, but we are committed to a generous wage for workers in a place where the cost of living is significantly higher than the national average.
Living in Oyster Bay, New York
Just one hour by train from Midtown Manhattan on the Long Island Rail Road, Oyster Bay is located on the beautiful north shore. The summer home of Teddy Roosevelt, Oyster Bay provides a mixture of New England Bay Town, small town, and big-city living. The well-known quality of our schools, the walkability of the local community surrounding the church, and natural beauty of Long Island Sound (which borders the town on its north edge) are an unbeatable combination for families with children. While Long Islanders are hard-driving and prone to struggle with overcommitment and competency idols, they are also deeply loyal, straightforward and warm. Long Island can be a challenging place. But for every challenge of life on the Island (cost-of-living, cultural differences from most American communities, low percentage of Christian belief), there are far greater rewards in making your home here.
Our vision for your ministry |
The advancement of a worship culture that translates the hospitality of Christ in a secular age.
It is our hope that you will make the most of our emphasis on a welcoming, sacramental, and generous liturgy to help us communicate the beauty and power of the Gospel. We will support your pursuit of both ancient and modern music, instrumentation, art forms, and styles (from classic hymnody to more modern sound and even blues and jazz forms) to lead us in raising our voices to Jesus. We believe there is deeply transformative impact when the worship service is directed to all kinds of hearers through the means of grace. At North Shore we take particular care to speak to the unbeliever, the skeptic, as well as those who are pillars of faith and devotion.
For the first time in our history we are making a significant investment to shift this role to a full-time position. We believe someone with a calling to bring creative and organizational excellence to the components of our worship services will be crucial to our vision of serving as a primary Gospel institution on Long Island and beyond.