Profile for Warsaw International Church

Warsaw, Poland

The Pastoral Call Committee compiled this profile.

Candidates interested in the position should send their Personal Data Form directly to the Secretary of the Pastor Call Committee.

Helen Geeson

Pastor Call Committee

Ul. Ksiazeca 17/7
00-498 Warszawa

Poland

Email: Copy to:

Calls to Secretary, 00 48 22 627 2941 (Warsaw time is six hours ahead of EST)

Day calls to Pastor’s Office: Tel: 00 48 22 842 2351
(When calling, if you leave a message, please include your e-mail for more efficient andeconomic response. We prefer communications to be in e-mail form rather than telephone becauseneither of the numbers above is regularly attended)

Warsaw International Church was organized in 1984 in order to bring together Christians for English-language worship. We obtained legal status in Poland in 1999. The church is a vibrant community, which reaches out to Christians of all backgrounds, traditions, nationalities and cultures. Our worship reflects the body of our church: it is ecumenical, relatively informal and uplifting. The acclaimed Warsaw Boys Choir participates in our service at least four times a year. Fellowship begins with newcomers warmly greeted at their first service, continues with coffee hour and then through a variety of activities during the year.

We have faced many challenges in the past years and in the process have forged closer relationships in both committee and Council meetings, mixing joyous fellowship with productive working sessions. At last year’s council retreat, a vision was agreed to guide strategic and resource decisions. The council realized that a small international congregation cannot be everything for anyone, and chose to focus on the three pillars that make WIC the family we enjoy. First, is a mainstream Protestant worship with ongoing Christian education. Secondly, is an internal focus through fellowship, to make each person in the congregation feel like they are a part of the WIC family. Finally, is our external focus to spread the spirit and peace of God in the Warsaw community through our significant outreach program.

We are looking for a pastor who is able to relate to families, singles of all ages, long and short-stay visitors, and members drawn from all six continents. The pastor needs to be culturally sensitive and open to all traditions. The pastor needs to be ever ready to welcome newcomers to a congregation with an annual turnover of around 30%, and to have a sense of excitement about serving in the capital of a country with a rich traditional culture which has become one of the most vibrant former communist countries.

For further information about our church, please visit our web site: . and especially the page titled “History.”

Date:September2007

1.Name of church:Warsaw International Church (WIC)

City/Country:Warsaw, Poland

2. Mailing Address: ul. Zawojska 9

i.City/Country/Postal codes: 02-927Warsaw, Poland

ii.Phone(s): 0048 22 842 2351 or 0048 22 627 2941

iii.E-Mails: or

iv.Web-site:

3. Deadline date for candidates' search and transmittal of PDFs: November 15th 2007

4. Church members:Today: 40adults3 yrs ago: 80adults

Participating non-members:Today: 30adults/ children3 yrs ago: 69adults/ children

Total:Today: 80adults/ children3 yrs ago: 149adults/ children

5. In the congregation, there is a concentration of which professions?

1) Business

2) Academics/teachers/students

3) Others

4) Diplomats

5) Engineers

6. Worship Time(s): Sunday worship service at 11 a.m.

7. Average attendance, including children: Today: 363 yrs. ago: 68

  1. Church school attendance: Today: 23 yrs. ago: 6

9. Approximate number of English-native speakers people in the community:

Today: ???3 yrs. ago: ???

10. Other English-language congregations in the community:

Anglican (Episcopal)
Christian Fellowship Ministries
International Christian Fellowship
International Catholic Community of Warsaw
Gospel Baptist Church

Redeemed Church of Nigeria

11. Budget information (convert into approximate US dollars):

Operating budget $58,853

Benevolence budget we tithe, and thus allocate 10% of our budget to our outreach activities

Annual endowment income $0

12. List church staff: (indicate full or part time; paid or volunteer)

Pastor – 1/2 time paid

Administrative Assistant- 10 hours paid per week (includes 1 hour on Sunday)

Choirmaster/Pianist– 3 hours/week paid

Treasurer – volunteer

13. Describe briefly how you try to serve children.

We provide a Sunday School program for ages 3 to approximately 8. Attendance can differ greatly from Sunday to Sunday, ranging from 0 to5 children. A play area with toys for younger children is available in the lobby outside the sanctuary. An attending parent can listen to the service there through a loudspeaker. Children of all ages are welcome to remain through the whole service as dictated by their attention span and parents’ wishes. Older children are welcome to participate in other aspects of the worship service by reading a scripture passage, playing a musical instrument, assisting an adult as usher, etc.

14. Describe briefly how you try to serve youth.

We have about 8 young people in our congregation; they are encouraged to take part in the worship service as readers, ushers and musicians. They recently organized the “Cool Beans” group to meet regularly and organize activities. We aim to have youth activities on a monthly basis during the school year, led by the pastor or members of the congregation. Our pastor needs to support and build on this work as a means of attracting new families to WIC. Each spring the pastor should be prepared to conduct confirmation or first communion classes if there is demand for such.

  1. Describe briefly your programs for adults.

(A) Successive pastors have initiated varying programs and the council welcomes their leadership in adult education. These groups change in response to the needs of the congregation.

(B) As a church founded in congregational polity, we want the pastor to involve our adults, our teens and our children in the Sunday service.

  1. Describe special programs for women.

None at present

  1. Identify any "special groups" (business, military, or diplomatic personnel; students; etc.) and describe the ministry with them.

We offer financial, material and spiritual support to people who are immigrants and have immigration problems.

  1. Is the congregation related to a local church body in the host country?

As a congregation founded by three U.S. denominations with strong ecumenical traditions, WIC has consistently sought to have a high profile with both Polish Christians and the other expatriate congregations. Our pastor makes contact with the other five or so English-speaking ministries here. Our church worships in the Protestant Lutheran Theology Academy. We want a pastor who is supportive of our tradition of being involved with the great religious traditions of Poland, including the Roman Catholic and Jewish, even while realizing that such involvement is limited by circumstances.

  1. During the past year in what cooperative church or community programs/projects has the congregation participated as an organization (not individuals). Describe.

WIC has traditionally sponsored its pastor to the annual meeting of AICEMEA (Association of International Churches of Europe, the Middle East and Africa – We also want to maintain our good relationship with the Office of International Congregations (in Cambridge, Mass. – Rev. Scott Campbell, Director, Network for International Congregations – email: ). We support a Prison Ministry. We co-operate closely with the Anglicancongregationfor Ash Wednesday and when possible Holy Week services. As a small congregation WIC is happy to participate in youth, women, men’s programs and other specialized ministries that are beyond our resources to initiate alone. We are the local contact for the United Christian Broadcasters in England (publishers of Word for Today) and Radio Bible Class (publisher of Daily Bread).

  1. Describe outreach activities within the community, host country, and outside the country.

The Outreach Committee at WIC is very active. It receives monthly funds from the budget and on occasion receives dedicated gifts from congregation members or ex-WIC members. The money is used for a variety of projects e.g. new kitchen equipment for orphanages and homes for people with special needs, bus tickets and school supplies for children in the orphanages, summer camps for disadvantaged children. Approximately fifty worshippers participate in the annual Christmas gift-giving program to provide gifts to children in orphanages. We hold two clothes drives every year and additionally, collect unwanted clothes and household goods from expats who are moving on. WIC members also attend activities at the orphanages. This past year we have on occasion supported international catastrophe areas, such as the Philippines.

  1. Identify and describe any special ministries or programs not listed above.
  1. List your methods for maintaining and/or increasing church membership during the past year.
  2. We advertise in English-language publications in Warsaw although this is limited because of the expense. We have brochures available at hotels and embassies in the city. Each Sunday, a banner hangs outside our worship facility and newcomers are greeted at the Visitors’ table and recognized during the service. We have created and maintain a web-site have a permanent sign outside the Academy of theology building facing main street alerting passersby to our Sunday services.
  3. After church services, we have a coffee hour (with refreshments brought by members on a rotating basis), which has proven to be a great “mixer” for longtime church members and newcomers.
  4. The pastor needs to be pro-active in following up by phone and e-mail with visitors who wish to be contacted.
  1. What is the purpose or mission statement of your congregation?

A.‘The mission of Warsaw International Church
is to bring together Christians of diverse backgrounds
to express and nurture their faith
through English-language worship, fellowship,
education and community outreach,
whether Warsaw is home for a day, a year, or a lifetime.’

B. Is it a consensus statement?

C. Was it developed by church members through a planning process, and corporately approved?

Yes, this statement was developed and approved by the Church Council in 1997.

  1. What special opportunities does your church face in the next five years?

There are many challenges ahead for the congregation as well as for the new pastor. We want to continue to manifest the spirit of our church into action through a wide variety of activities and programs that reach out not only to various elements of our church community, but also to the greater Warsaw community as well.

In addition, we perceive the following opportunities:

  1. To continue to offer English language worship to expatriates,
  2. To reach out to more English-speaking Poles and those who speak English as a second language.
  3. To increase membership in general and attendance of children.
  4. To highlight the Christian, inclusive spirit of our church in the wider community.
  5. To maintain and strengthen connections to WIC after members leave Poland.
  1. What special problems does the church face in the next five years?

Partly due to the changing nature of Poland (fewer expatriate executives coming in) the financial support we have relied on in the past has lessened.

1. We are a congregation of highly mobile people, which makes it difficult for us to engage in and sustain long-range planning and long term financial management.

2.We rejoice at the success of the economic-democracy transition in Poland since 1989 but understand that this means there are far fewer expatriate executives coming here for multi-year assignments. For WIC, this means we cannot rely on expatriates as the source of four-fifths of our financial support as in our first decade.

  1. We realize there are significant income differentials within our congregation. Some Poles worshiping with us have top management jobs but many others (and some young expatriates here) make the average Warsaw income of $800 a month, which presents a challenge in spreading the net broadly in appeals for donations to support church operations.

4.We own no real estate and must budget for the sanctuary and manse. Our current worship venue assumes we will continue to share the rent with the Korean congregation. Our congregation now includes many families that are bilingual and bi-cultural and many also are inter-faith. Some attend both WIC and a Polish Catholic church. This means we as a congregation have to be inclusive in our service and our programs.

  1. What objectives and hopes has the congregation envisioned to meet these opportunities and problems?
  1. We seek to continue to build our church community and to meet the needs of an increasingly diverse congregation.
  2. We seek to maintain our Outreach budget as 10 percent of our total annual budget.
  3. We seek to emphasize that time as well as money is an important donation for the health of WIC.
  4. We encourage broader participation in the work of the church and special projects and activities.
  1. Are the members ready to consider changes in purpose and program to achieve these objectives?

We are not open to changing our purpose, but we are open to changing programs to better meet our purpose.

  1. Identify and describe your church building facilities:

For Worship

A. Our worship facility, is in a newly refurbished chapel/auditorium with a comfortable capacity of 100+, is located in the Academy of Theology attached to the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland and is rented from them. This building is just outside the old walls of the Warsaw Old Town and is easily reached by public transport from all parts of the city. Curbside parking is available.

We have the use of the sanctuary on the third floor, as well as a kitchen and a large Coffee Hour area on the second floor. There is an attendant and cloakroom on the ground level.

For Educational activities

Sunday School meets in its own room, at the worship facility, during the service. This room is not available before the service. The adult Sunday morning group meets in a room at the worship facility.

Small groups meet at the manse, or at the homes of congregation members.

For Office space

The office is in the manse.

For Meetings

Council and committee meetings are held at the manse office or in members’ homes

For Manse

The manse is a tri-level, well-equipped townhouse in a nice, safe, residential neighborhood approximately 7 km south of the city center. It has 2 bedrooms, an office and a study and a long yard. It is well served by public transport and is close to a shopping mall and outdoor market. It is also right on a bike path leading to a forest.

B. Are facilities adequate for present program needs? Facilities are adequate

C. Do you plan any capital expenditures during the next five years? Explain briefly.

We are not planning any capital expenditure

  1. Is there a pastor's "study"? Where is it?

The pastor’s study is in the manse.

  1. Which of the following pastoral activities do you consider to be most important as you look to the future? Please list these in order of preference.

The following activities are those we consider to be most important as we look to the future. We want an outgoing pastor who will:

1. Get to know the multicultural congregation

2. Conduct lively and relevant worship and preaching

3. Enlist new members

4. Be a proficient administrator

5. Encourage fellowship and educational activities

6. Encourage ecumenical and interfaith activities within the Warsaw community

7. Offer counseling as necessary

We find that many of the individual activities listed for this question can, and often do, meld together. For example, we consider “worship and preaching” to be the soul of pastoral work. Moreover, within worship and preaching, the pastor can attract new members by the message, relate the faith to ethical issues in our professions and in our life abroad, and promote personal evangelism. The activities are all inextricably connected.

  1. How many work hours in a typical week is the pastor expected to spend on top priorities?

The position is 1/2-time, approximately twenty hours per week. It would suit a retired pastor who has a pension or independent income.

  1. Special experience or training desired: (Please describe and include cultural adjustment if this is of more that usual significance)

We are seeking a pastor who is a theologically trained seminary graduate, ordained by a “mainstream” traditional Protestant denomination. Candidates should have the ability to work in an ecumenical and culturally diverse community (our members come from the US, Britain, Africa, Poland, the Philippines, Korea, Mongolia, other parts of Europe, etc.) and should be able to communicate effectively with a congregation in which many members’ first language may not be English. The Pastor should be computer literate in order to help with the production of the worship bulletin, weekly newsletter and to communicate via email.

  1. To be more effective, what language would be desired other than English? Would it be essential/helpful?

No other languages are necessary. The ability to enunciate clearly in English is essential. For many of the congregation English is a second language. Knowledge of Polish would obviously be helpful, but is by no means necessary, as Poland is rapidly becoming a more multi-lingual country.

  1. What is the period of call or contract?

Our preference is for a contract of two to three years, renewal by mutual agreement, but the council is open to consider other contract possibilities.

  1. What is the starting salary?

WIC can offer a salary of $10,200 annually plus $1200 medical insurance for the year. WIC also covers all housing and utility costs, as well as cost of travel to and from assignment.

This amount is sufficient for a couple to live on, especially as the cost of living in Poland is fairly low (indexed at below most mid-sized US cities). There is a very wide range of salaries in our congregation as a whole, and this is true of the church council as well. The pastor’s salary would constitute a good salary by local standards. Once housing expenses are covered, the cost of living in Warsaw is relatively modest, particularly when compared to other major European capitals. Nationally, the average annual salary is about $9600 before taxes.

This post would be most suitable for a pastor without dependents unless there is a source of independent income.