We seek an experienced and spiritually mature individual to partner with us as we stand for justice in our city, our denomination, and the wider world. The interim will work with called co-pastor Rev. Gordon Webster in all aspects of our justice-centered ministry. The interim will have primary staff responsibility for our Worship and Caring Ministries plus additional shared responsibilities.
One year from time of contract, hopefully by May 2004, renewable annually as needed.
While we are committed to "bottom line" contract terms equal to that of called co-pastor Gordon Webster, we're open to a different allocation of the line items, depending on the needs of the successful candidate.
Each Downtown United Presbyterian Church (DUPC) co-pastor will assume both shared responsibilities as well as specific responsibilities unique to each co-pastor's position. The effectiveness of the co-pastor team depends upon having common values, a commitment to a shared vision, shared decision-making, strong communication between each of them, joint accountability, and the ability to accept both leader and follower roles.
Both co-pastors are also expected not only to have a strong theological background and a strong spiritual life, but to be able to share these with the congregation with energy and enthusiasm. Together, we want to incarnate God's presence and God's love in our church and in the greater community. Each co-pastor will be expected to provide both inspiration and challenge to members of the congregation as we learn to fulfill our mission as God's church, moving beyond our walls to interest potential members of DUPC.
As listed in the chart on page 5, the interim co-pastor will have specific responsibilities unique to her or his position and will share other responsibilities with the called co-pastor.
Respond to God's grace in Jesus Christ by:
We stand for justice in our city, our denomination, and the wider world. We recently reviewed and revised our vision statement (intended to help implement our mission) and want to emphasize work in our local community (City of Rochester, County of Monroe).
alt="2003 membership 356, average attendance 145. Age distribution: < 26 8%, 26-45 20%, 46-55 14%, 56-65 15%, > 66 43%"
src="cid:d31c497eecef6dca12eb3493dc937264" width=206 border=0>DUPC is one of 13
local congregations sponsoring Rochester Area Interfaith Hospitality Network
(RAIHN), a new program to house homeless people in a church on a rotating basis
one week at a time.
About three years ago, DUPC helped resettle six Sudanese refugees.
In the 1980s DUPC was a sanctuary church and served as home to a family of refugees from El Salvador.
In 2003, due to a reduction in government funding, DUPC closed its Downtown Child Development Center, a day care run by our church and located in our building for over 25 years.
Much of this space is now rented to Spiritus Christi Church, a Roman Catholic congregation expelled by its diocese in 1998 due to the congregation's stand for open communion, for permitting women active roles in leadership and worship, and for inclusion of GLBT people.
We will not depart from efforts to remove our denomination's policy excluding GLBT people from church leadership positions. DUPC continues to support That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS), a ministry we started in 1993 after the denomination prohibited Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr from becoming our co-pastor because she is lesbian. This ministry has grown to eight regions. Rev. Dr. Spahr is the TAMFS Minister/Director and Lisa Larges is the Regional Partnership Coordinator.
We see our inward spiritual journey as strengthening and renewing ourselves for our outward ministry. We seek a co-pastor who will reinvigorate our Worship and Caring Ministries.
We have two worship services Sunday at 11:00 a.m.:
In the future we wish to incorporate some of the Celebration II style into Celebration I.
The Wednesday evening family program features a light supper at 5:30 with worship, a program, or Bible study at 6:30.
In 2004, we're celebrating the 30th anniversary of the merger of three predecessor downtown congregations to form Downtown United Presbyterian Church. DUPC has had co-pastors in leadership since then, approximately 15 in number, including interims.
Our membership consists largely of employed and retired professionals, such as teachers, healthcare providers, business people, scientists and engineers, social services providers, and consultants. Most members have had some college education and a fair number have graduate degrees. Our membership reflects Rochester's demographics as a "white collar" area.
In June 2001, session adopted a plan called Discovering Our Future, a 14-page report describing a path for 2001-2006. In doing so, session reorganized the committees into five Ministries charged with strategy development:
adopted broad initial goals, and envisioned Ministry Teams to implement this work. There are now approximately 15 Ministry Teams.
DUPC has a board of 27-30 deacons. Session consists of 15-19 elders. We have a unicameral board.
We have special events throughout the church year including a Harvest Dinner, Valentine's Dinner, and a lecture series twice a year "Faith and the LGBT Experience," in collaboration with three other churches and the women's program at a local seminary.
. . . consist of the sanctuary, church school, chapel, and institute.
Our 550-seat sanctuary was built in 1903 on foundations dating from the mid 19th century. Each Sunday, we can view biblical scenes in our Tiffany glass windows and listen to the vibrant sounds of our Fisk organ.
Located to the north and west of the sanctuary is our three-story church school building, which also houses Spiritus Christi offices and Sunday school.
Just adjacent to the sanctuary is the 60-seat Taylor Chapel, the right size for small weddings and funerals.
On the south side stands a four story, multi-use institute building. The first two floors and basement house DUPC church offices, a large lounge, meeting rooms, dining room, kitchen, Celebration Hall which can seat 200, an indoor basketball court, a bowling alley, and a youth den. The top two floors of this building consist of office space, which is rented to not-for-profit organizations whose missions are consistent with our goals. The national office of That All May Freely Serve is housed in the institute.
Our physical plant is shared with a large number of community groups who use it for lectures, concerts, and ceremonies. City government uses our Celebration Hall for groups larger than their facilities can accommodate.
The church does not provide manses for our clergy staff.
Weekday parking is a problem. We have space for only about 25 cars in our church lots. However, after 5:30 p.m. and all day on weekends, we have free use of the large City Hall lot directly across from the church. There are large city garages one and two blocks from the church.
| Name | Position |
| Gordon Webster | Co-Pastor |
| Laura Myers | Director of Christian Education / Coordinator of Volunteers |
| John Bodinger | Music Director |
| Alan Jones | Celebration-II Music Resource Person (3 hours / week) |
| Jack Wheeler | Pastoral Visitor, Commissioned Lay Pastor (10-12 hours / week) |
| Dan Holland | Church Administrator |
| Penny Crudup | Church Secretary |
| Teresa Reeves | Bookkeeper, receptionist |
| Salva Dut | Receptionist (Part time) |
| Steve Simmons | Facilities Supervisor |
| Mel Henry | Maintenance Supervisor |
| Jerome Anthony | Building Maintenance Person |
| Sandee Womack | Administrative Assistant, That All May Freely Serve |
The co-pastor position for which we are seeking an interim has been vacant since October 2001, when Rev. Patti Snyder resigned. After some discussion whether to fill the vacant position, and after hiring a full-time Director of Christian Education and Coordinator of Volunteers, and a part-time Parish Visitor, the congregation decided in October 2003 to fill the vacant co-pastor position. During the annual stewardship campaign, which occurred 4-8 weeks after that decision, the amount pledged increased by nearly 10% and the number of pledging units increased by 17% compared with the previous year.
The church is located in the western end of downtown Rochester, across from City Hall, and about four blocks from the central business district. Most of the area within a six-block radius consists primarily of business, hotel, and government buildings. There is a high-rise apartment building just across the river and newly renovated loft apartments in the other direction.
Corn Hill, a restored 19th century neighborhood, lies about six blocks south of the church. City neighborhoods, boasting a 67% home ownership rate, then extend between 2 to 5 miles to the suburbs.
About 15,000 people live in the church's and the two adjacent ZIP code areas.
Rochester is the third largest city in the state with a population of about 219,000. The county of which Rochester is a geographic part has about 750,000 people. The Rochester metropolitan statistical area has just over a million people. Our members live in the city and throughout this area with a radius of about 25 miles.
Most people say Rochester offers more cultural and entertainment opportunities than most cities its size. These include the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional theater and many amateur groups, touring Broadway shows, the Memorial Art Gallery, a planetarium, the Susan B. Anthony House, and other museums. Professional baseball and soccer teams play at a stadium about 200 yards from DUPC's buildings.
A cooperative spirit exists among various religious communities in the Rochester area. The Greater Rochester Community of Churches (GRCC) is an association of the mainline Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox churches, as well as several non-profit groups. A DUPC member is GRCC's current staff person and our co-pastor is a past president.
Congregation and pastors together prayerfully seek to discern God's will and strive to follow God's guidance in all that we do.
We are committed to a co-pastorate consisting of clergy with complementary skills, gifts, and talents.
We are committed to co-ministry consisting of members and clergy working in concert to achieve our mission and vision.
We are an inclusive church. DUPC celebrates diversity. We invite individuals and families of diverse age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, physical and mental ability, and economic status into all aspects of congregational life and leadership.
We welcome and extend hospitality to all who join us as we work toward transforming our city, our denomination, and our world into living embodiments of God's radical love, justice, and peace.
"We need an interim partner in a ministry that continues to be both challenging and invigorating. I am personally experiencing amazing spiritual growth. I look forward to sharing it with an interim co-pastor." -- Rev Gordon Webster, co-pastor
For the year ended December 31, 2003:
With the difference withdrawn from our approximately $6 million invested funds.
Discovering Our Future set a target withdrawal from invested funds of no more than 6%. The amount withdrawn in 2003 was 9.2%.
In January 2004 the congregation adopted the following terms of call for Rev. Gordon Webster.
| $32,198 | Salary | |
| 23,000 | Housing Allowance | |
| $55,198 | Sub-total | |
| $ 6,072 | GA Pension (11% of Sub-total) | |
| 10,212 | GA Medical (18.5% of Sub-total) | |
| 552 | GA Death & Disability (1% of Sub-total) | |
| 276 | Supplemental Pension (0.5% of Sub-total) | |
| 4,223 | FICA Supplement (7.65% of Sub-total) | |
| 7,353 | Travel & Professional Expense (Vouchered) | |
| 2,163 | Study Leave Allowance (Vouchered) | |
| 1,030 | Conference/Book Allowance (Vouchered) | |
| $87,079 | Total Compensation |
DUPC welcomes qualified applicants without regard for race, ethnic origin, sex, age, sexual orientation, marital status, or disability. Please provide the following material:
Review of applications will begin by March 2004.
Please direct applications, interest, and inquiries to:
A printer-friendly
version of this document is available.