Worship & Creative Ministries Pastor in Andover

Vision: We are one church family across Andover seeking the presence of God, rooted in Word, Spirit and Sacrament, and sent to make disciples, plant congregations, and seek the good for our town and villages.

Worship Lies at the Heart of This Vision: We long to become a people among whom God is pleased to dwell and to make his presence known. We seek worship that welcomes the Holy Spirit, honours Jesus Christ, and creates space for lives to be transformed – worship that is wholehearted, expectant, accessible, excellent, joyful, and shaped by the presence of God.

Context: The Parish of Andover is a growing multi-site church serving the town and surrounding villages through several congregations, of a variety of traditions. We are committed to mission, discipleship, evangelism, church planting, raising leaders and social transformation.

Role Overview: We are seeking an outstanding Worship and Creative Ministries Pastor who can help grow both the quality and capacity of worship across the parish by leading worship personally, raising up others, and building teams and systems that enable flourishing worship in multiple settings. We are committed both to faithfully stewarding and strengthening our existing worship life, and to developing new expressions of worship as part of our mission. This is a strategic appointment for the next season of parish life.

Purpose of the Role: To strengthen and deepen the worshipping life of the Parish of Andover, supporting and enriching existing worship across our congregations, while also prayerfully developing new expressions where appropriate. This will involve cultivating worship that delights God and in which He is pleased to make His presence known, raising up worship leaders, musicians and teams, and increasing the quality and capacity of worship across the parish. The postholder will also help awaken, nurture and release the creative gifts already present within the parish, including music, visual arts, media, design, storytelling and other expressions of creativity, so that these may serve worship, mission and community life. They will oversee the development and coordination of audio-visual, livestream and lighting environments, particularly at St. Mary’s while serving wider parish needs, helping create spaces that are prayerful, welcoming and excellent. They will help develop and coordinate audio-visual, livestream and lighting environments, particularly at St. Mary’s, working with existing volunteers and staff. Technical expertise is welcome but not essential; the ability to lead people, build teams and grow systems is more important.

Key Responsibilities

• Worship Leadership: Lead worship regularly at Sunday services, prayer gatherings and special events. Help cultivate a culture of encounter with God through worship. Work with clergy and service leaders to plan services that are coherent, expectant and lead to encountering God. Support worship across a range of traditions and contexts within the parish. Introduce new songs, arrangements and expressions of worship with pastoral sensitivity to each congregation’s context and tradition.
• Team Development: Recruit, organise and encourage musicians, vocalists and production volunteers. Identify emerging worship leaders and invest intentionally in them. Create a pathway for training new leaders, musicians and team members. Coach individuals in musical skill, leadership presence, spirituality and teamwork. Build healthy rosters and sustainable team structures.
• Strengthening and Growing Worship Across the Parish: Strengthen worship in existing congregations while enabling multiple congregations to develop strong local worship leadership. Support newer or smaller congregations that need development. Raise standards while growing participation.
• Creative Ministries: Identify hidden or under-used creative gifts within the church family. Release artists, designers, writers, makers, storytellers and creatives into worship and mission. Encourage creative contributions in seasons such as Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter and civic moments.
• Production and Systems (with volunteer teams): Oversee worship-related equipment, planning systems and song libraries. Work with AV and production volunteers to improve sound, visuals and livestream support where appropriate. Help ensure smooth delivery of key services and events.
• Parish Vision and Communications: Ideally oversee or support social media, storytelling and digital communications. Help communicate parish vision and celebrate testimonies and growth.

Person Specification

• Essential: A committed and mature follower of Jesus. Proven experience as a gifted worship leader in a church context. Strong musical ability with confident vocals and proficiency on a lead instrument. Able to lead a congregation spiritually, not merely perform musically. Demonstrable experience of building, leading and growing teams. Proven ability to identify and develop new leaders. Organised and able to manage rosters, plans and volunteers. Strong relational skills with warmth, humility and emotional intelligence. Comfortable working across different church traditions and generations. Supportive of the Church of England context and ministry of the parish. Committed to safeguarding excellence.
• Highly Desirable: Experience in a multi-site or multi-congregation church. Ability in arranging, songwriting or music production. Familiarity with church service planning or presentation systems (e.g. PlanningCentre, ProPresenter, Church Suite) would be helpful. Some experience of livestream, sound or production environments is desirable, or a willingness to learn and lead others in these areas. Some theological training. Experience of leading creative communications or digital content.

Personal Qualities: Spiritually alive and rooted in prayer. Musically excellent yet humble. Entrepreneurial and able to build. A multiplier of people, not just a solo leader. Joyful, resilient and adaptable. Collaborative and emotionally mature. Hungry to see Andover transformed by the gospel.

Working Pattern: Four days a week and Sundays – likely to include one evening per week, key festivals, occasional weekends and some bank holidays, with time off in lieu as appropriate. If you are strong in worship leadership and team development but less experienced in technical production, we would still love to hear from you.

Application: We are looking to fill this role as soon as possible; we will interview on a rolling basis. If you have any questions, please email to arrange a time to chat with the Rector, Peter Harwood. To apply please email CV and cover letter to patorector@andoverparish.org.