Pastoral Residency

The First Presbyterian Church of Chicago has a long history of engagement and advocacy in its communities. The Pastoral Residency program is a unique opportunity for practicing public ministry in a diverse urban setting and discovering how a church can serve as a platform for organizing and social change.

First Church is well known for its practice of radical forms of urban ministry that break down barriers which typically exist between churches and their surrounding communities. It was the site of Chicago’s first public school, abolitionist society, interracial classroom, public debate hall, and many other civic and cultural forums that shaped the fledgling city of Chicago. Throughout its history, First Church has provided sanctuary for refugees and oppressed peoples: from its leadership in organizing Chicago’s underground railroad; to its open commitment to disobey the fugitive slave act; to its support of Chinese migrants during the Chinese Exclusion Act; to its program of offering safe haven to the local youth gang, The Black P. Stone Nation, in Woodlawn; to its present programs supporting local artists and nurturing a sovereign, hyperlocal food system. 

First Church is also a unique setting to learn about pastoral care in a diverse and pluralistic community. The small congregation is significantly multiracial, multiethnic, multigenerational, multicultural, and multilingual. Beyond the congregation, the pastoral staff provides care and chaplaincy to a broad community of gardeners, activists, artists, volunteers, and other community partners. The Pastoral Resident will practice adapting their communication style to suit a wide variety of situations where people are seeking their leadership and care.

The Pastoral Resident will work closely with the senior pastor and church team to practice church administration, financial stewardship, pastoral care, spiritual formation, preaching, worship leadership, community engagement, movement chaplaincy, and fundraising. They will also focus their engage with the community in one or more of the following areas (of their choosing) which are integral to the church’s mission:

1.      ARTS CHAPLAINCY: Advocacy, care, and engagement with artists from the South Side of Chicago who us church space to make, show, develop, and collaborate on their work. The Pastoral Resident in this track will advocate for art and culture that has taken root in the South Side since the great migration, with attention to the pressures of gentrification and cultural erasure.

2.     FOOD SYSTEM ORGANIZING: Working with the broad and diffuse community of gardeners and food distribution programs to nurture a sovereign food system primarily serving the residents of Woodlawn who live near the church. The Pastoral Resident in this track will be proactive about organizing community around food production, distribution, and encouraging networks of mutual aid within the community  

3.     LITURGICAL ARTIST-IN-RESIDENCE: First Church has a dynamic and highly interactive worship style, and congregants respond well to experimentation in worship design. The Pastoral Resident in this track will design liturgy with attention to the context of wider cultural dynamics (e.g. spectacle, systemic oppression, secularization) with which worship rituals are in dialogue. 

Each Pastoral Resident will have a unique job description, drawing on one or more of these areas, which will be created in consultation with the Senior Pastor.  

The Pastoral Resident will be encouraged to experiment, play, take risks, and develop their ministerial instincts and imagination. As such, it is crucial that the Pastoral Resident be open and receptive to feedback. Pastoral Residents will meet regularly with the senior pastor for supervision and mentoring.