Job Description

Job Description

Job Description

C3 Tri-Cities

Youth & Young Adults Pastor

Richland, Washington

C3 Tri-Cities is looking for a relational, Spirit-filled leader to serve as the Youth & Young Adults Pastor—shepherding students (grades 6–12) and young adults (18-25) into new and growing relationships with Jesus. This pastor will build teams, disciple students, and create environments where fun, belonging, and biblical depth come together. If you love students, value the gifts of the Spirit, and are hungry to grow as a leader, this could be the right seat.

Why I Love This Opportunity

What makes this role unique is the timing. C3 is experiencing fresh momentum after a season of transition, with hundreds of salvations and baptisms and a staff culture that’s healing and hungry for more of God. The student ministry has a strong base of leaders (18–24 volunteers), 100+ midweek students, and lots of room to grow.

This isn’t a “maintain what’s here” role—it’s a chance to cast vision, build culture, and shape the next generation in one of the fastest-growing regions in the Northwest.

• Brian Aaby // Senior Associate // Slingshot Group

A great match for this position would be:

• Biblical & Theological Shaper: Loves God’s Word and teaches with clarity, passion, and relevance.
• Catalytic Leader: Brings energy and momentum; develops volunteers and student leaders.
• Community Builder: Creates spaces where students, parents, and leaders feel known and connected.
• Creative Communicator: Uses story, media, and innovation to capture attention and hearts.
• Owner/Operator: Takes ownership, builds systems, and creates wins without waiting to be told.

About This Organization

Columbia Community Church, known as  C3 Tri-Cities , began in the 1940s and has grown into a thriving ministry with a clear mission:  to lead people into new and growing relationships with Jesus.

From innovative approaches like drive-in services in the early years to a preschool that serves the community today, C3 has always leaned into creativity and outreach. By 2019, attendance peaked at 2,000. Today, with around 1,500–1,700 attending weekly, C3 is rebuilding momentum, staff culture, and discipleship pathways for the next chapter. The church operates with a $3M budget, is board-protected and senior pastor-directed, and emphasizes intentionality, transparency, and staff care.

Location

The Tri-Cities (Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco) offers 300 days of sunshine, a thriving job market, and outdoor recreation along the Columbia River. Families are drawn here from Seattle and California for affordable housing (median home in the $400s), strong schools, and the chance to live in a place that’s both growing and welcoming.

With mountains, coastlines, and lakes just a short drive away, it’s an ideal place for both adventure and long-term family life.

Challenges and Opportunities

• Recruit, Train, and Celebrate Your Team
• The new leader will inherit a solid base of 18–24 committed volunteers. That’s a strong foundation, but the future depends on building this team further. Recruiting, equipping, and celebrating leaders won’t just make ministry sustainable — it will create the kind of leadership culture that multiplies momentum. As the team grows in health and numbers, the ministry will have the capacity to scale with the growing needs of the church and community.
• Control the Chaos
• Students describe C3’s youth ministry as fun, loud, and a place they want to be. That energy is a gift, but it has also meant that gatherings have sometimes felt wild and undisciplined. The opportunity is to bring healthy structure and focus without killing the joy. The right leader will channel that passion into worship, discipleship, and mission, helping students learn what it looks like to have fun and also take their faith seriously.
• Beyond the Program
• C3 doesn’t just want a strong Wednesday night service. The new pastor needs to lead a culture where relationships matter just as much outside the program as they do during it. Students are desperate for genuine connection, and volunteers need to see what it looks like to model life-on-life discipleship. By investing intentionally in students outside the weekly schedule — showing up at games, grabbing coffee, celebrating milestones — the leader will set the tone for a ministry that prioritizes people over programs.
• Building from the Ground Up (Young Adults)
• While the student ministry already has a solid core, young adult ministry at C3 is still an open canvas. There is a critical mass of young adults in the church, but no established structure or rhythms for gathering them. This is a fresh opportunity for the new pastor to dream, design, and launch a ministry that engages college students, young professionals, and twenty-somethings in discipleship and mission.

Leadership

This role reports to  Aaron Olson, Senior Associate Pastor , who values leaders who are assertive, collaborative, and willing to grow. Aaron and the C3 staff team describe their culture as authentic, caring, and intentional—even as they walk through transition together.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a clear vision for Youth & Young Adults that aligns with C3’s mission.
• Lead weekly youth services, small groups, Bible studies, and young adult gatherings.
• Develop city-impacting youth outreach ministry outside of the church building, avoiding the cultivation of merely event-based spirituality.
• Inspiring and mobilizing youth and young adults to be active evangelists to their friends and in their city.
• Preach biblically sound, relevant messages that engage both students and young adults.
• Recruit, equip, and disciple a growing team of volunteer leaders and student leaders.
• Partner with parents in the spiritual development of their students.
• Plan and lead retreats, camps, mission trips, and outreach initiatives.
• Build bridges with schools and community organizations for relational outreach.
• Manage ministry budget and communication, including digital platforms and social media.
• Ensure safe, structured, and welcoming environments across all gatherings.

Key Qualifications

• 3+ years of paid student ministry leadership (minimum).
• Bachelor’s degree in ministry, theology, or related field (preferred).
• Strong communication and teaching gifts; able to connect with students and young adults.
• Experience recruiting and equipping leaders, partnering with parents, and leading camps/outreach.
• Demonstrated effectiveness in strategic, student-led evangelistic efforts.
• Alignment with C3’s essential and non-essential beliefs: egalitarian, continuationist, enthusiastic about the gifts of the Spirit.
• Male candidate (per church request) to bring balance to a girl-heavy ministry.
• Spiritually mature, relational, resilient, and ready to grow.

Salary Range

70,000 – 80,000

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