Seeking an Interim Pastor: Our Process and Next Steps

Why We Are Hiring an Interim Minister

West Hills Friends Meeting (WHF) is seeking a temporary Released Minister (“Interim Pastor”) to minister with us during our pastoral transition period.

As Quakers, we believe that we are all ministers, and we also welcome the opportunity for the consistency and coordination a paid interim minister can provide. We desire to find the right candidate soon to provide additional capacity to support WHF attendees and ministries while reducing the extra workload on our Elders.

Our hope is that having an interim while we continue to discern where God is leading us next will provide our Meeting more time for this discernment and allow for objective feedback about us and our process.

What We Are Looking For

We aren’t looking for someone with all the answers or someone who wants to be in charge. Instead, we seek a person who can guide a process for the Meeting to reflect on its attitudes, behaviors, and structures. The right candidate will be able to guide difficult conversations with skill, including discussions on diverse political views and societal issues.

We are looking for an individual who is strongly committed to Quaker process and practice, whose first priority in life is to follow God’s leading, who is a great listener, and who has experience as a Released Minister—preferably with interim ministry experience.

WHF is a semi-programmed Quaker meeting in Southwest Portland and a member of Sierra Cascades Yearly Meeting of Friends (SCYMF). We are a welcoming congregation and expect all candidates to be supportive of LGBTQ+ individuals as well.

Next Steps

We invite interested candidates to explore our website and the About Us section to start understanding who we are. If you are interested in learning more about the position for yourself or someone you know, please contact hiring@westhillsfriends.org for any questions about the requirements and job description.

How to apply

Please submit your resume and a cover letter detailing your background and your experience with Quaker pastoral ministry and structural assessment in a ministry context by March 31 to:

Mailing Address: West Hills Friends, PO Box 19173, Portland, OR 97280

Email: hiring@westhillsfriends.org.

Important Note

The individual hired for this interim minister position will be ineligible for any WHF regular Released Ministry position; we will be considering only applicants interested in an interim role as we expect the Interim position and permanent Released Minister position to require different skills. If you are interested in the permanent Released Minister position, we expect to be recruiting for that later this year. Please hold your application until then.