Groups Team Leader

Groups Team Leaders invest not only in students, but also in their teams, in order to help team members minister effectively to students each week. Team Leaders are held accountable for their assigned small group of Mercy Hill Students. This includes creating a hospitable and positive small group environment, creating a culture of discussion, accountability, and prayer among the group, leading games, and intentionally connecting with students. Groups Team Leaders are also expected to develop team members, ensuring they are equipped to engage students on a weekly basis.

Team Leader Competencies

Facilitate teaching and discussion in a way that presents the gospel and engages each student
Ensure you and your team members are effectively implementing programming
Identify and develop emerging volunteer leaders
Communicate with parents in a way that conveys the vision of Mercy Hill Students
Create a culture of community within your small group (both with leaders and students)

Time Commitment: 6-8 hours each week

CHURCH PLANTING

We believe church planting is God’s Plan A to fulfill the Great Commission, and there is no plan B.

Our gospel impact multiplies when we plant churches in new locations, so we challenge every believer that calls Mercy Hill home to “do what you do best for the glory of God in a place strategic for the mission of God.”

We target cities with specific criteria to increase our impact:

Cities with a 4-year college or university…

help us reach the most sendable demographic and establish the bedrock of a sending culture from the outset.

Cities with a growing job market…

allow families moving with a launch team to find sustainable jobs and remain generous toward the mission.

Universities with strong graduation rates…

provide a long enough runway to see non-believing students become followers of Jesus who are ready to leverage
two years post-college for the mission of God.

VALUES

The churches we plant hold to a list of shared values and convictions
that help us plant more churches from a place of strength and neutralize confusion:

GOSPEL-CENTERED

The local church is formed by the gospel and for the gospel. Through both declaration and demonstration, we boldly proclaim Christ crucified, resurrected and coming again and use methods of ministry that reinforce the gospel alone has the power to both save and sanctify. The only thing we have to boast in is Jesus Christ.

BIBLICALLY LED AND MOTIVATED

God calls qualified men to use their gift of leadership to serve the church. We believe each local church should be led by a plurality of elders who protect the church from error and provide sound teaching, example and direction. Elders are also entrusted to identify, develop and affirm other elders within the church. Yet ministry is not the calling of a select few. Jesus didn’t die to create spectators but servants, and every believer has a role in fulfilling the great commission. Therefore, the focus of church leaders is to equip every member to fulfill their unique calling in God’s global mission.

SENDING-FOCUSED & GROWTH ORIENTED

The success of our churches should be based on sending capacity, not seating capacity. But, nothing is more important for sending capacity than seating capacity. That means we are unapologetically growth-oriented. If it can be counted — first-time guests, baptisms, attendance, groups, leaders, services, campuses, whatever — we want it to grow. Multiply everything! We don’t grow, however, for the sake of growth itself. We grow in order to go. Sending is the end. We invest in the growth of people locally and call them to be sent globally.

BUILT UPON THE NEXT GENERATION

The local church is not a ministry specific to a particular affinity or age group. Discipleship that is Word-taught and life-caught values how one generation can shape another. Emotionally and spiritually healthy families strengthen society. Additionally, college students are a highly mobile demographic and uniquely positioned to advance the gospel around the world. Our robust commitment to sending requires ministry that is focused on reaching students and developing college-age leaders.

COMMITTED TO EXCELLENCE AND HUMILITY

We will not be sloppy. Being deliberate and fully convinced in our methods need not result in a boastful spirit that does not appreciate and value others who take a different approach. Our commitment to excellence drives us to humbly learn from others outside of our familiarity and to create an environment of evaluation that enriches and strengthens.

FAMILY

While Mercy Hill has partnered in planting over a dozen churches, in 2019 we shifted from partner-planting to parent-planting. That means the churches we plant are raised up, trained, resourced, and sent out by Mercy Hill Church. Through our ministry cohorts, our church planting incubator, and our church planting fellowship, we begin training for leadership way upstream, continually investing in future planters all along the way.

The result is a family of churches that is just as committed to pediatrics as we are obstetrics.