Job Title: Church Relations Advisor (U.S.)

Department: Church & Community Engagement (CaCE) - Constituency Relations (CORE) Team

Reports To: Director, Church & Community Engagement

Status: Full-Time, Exempt

Location: In Person/Hybrid (U.S.) in Byron Center, MI

Salary Level:J $80,649-$90,730

PURPOSE:

The Church Relations Advisor (U.S.) cultivates, strengthens, and expands World Renew's relationships with churches across the United States by developing meaningful partnerships that advance World Renew's mission and ministry impact.

This role serves as a primary relationship manager for assigned church partners, including higher-capacity congregations and strategic church relationships, typically representing churches contributing $8,000+ annually. The Advisor works to deepen engagement through personalized stewardship, ministry connections, donor cultivation, and partnership development.

The Church Relations Advisor develops trusted relationships with pastors, mission leaders, denominational partners, and church communities while identifying opportunities to expand World Renew's church support beyond traditional networks. Through relational engagement, strategic outreach, and collaboration across World Renew teams, this position contributes to increased church participation, sustainable revenue growth, and long-term ministry impact.

The Church Relations Advisor represents World Renew with authenticity, professionalism, and a commitment to its mission, vision, and values.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Church Relationship Management & Engagement

• Manage a portfolio of assigned church partners, serving as the primary relationship contact for pastors, mission committees, ministry leaders, and other key stakeholders.
• Develop and implement customized engagement strategies that strengthen partnerships, increase participation, and encourage long-term investment in World Renew's mission.
• Build trusted relationships through regular communication, including church visits, virtual meetings, calls, presentations, and written correspondence.
• Understand church priorities and identify opportunities to connect congregations with World Renew programs, initiatives, and ministry opportunities.
• Provide churches with meaningful engagement opportunities, including: 1. Global ministry presentations, 2. Field staff visits, 3.) Discovery Tours, 4.) Disaster Response Services opportunities, 5.) Educational resources, and 6.) Campaigns and special initiatives.

Church Partnership Growth & Development

• Identify opportunities to expand World Renew's church partnership base through relationship-building, networking, and strategic outreach.
• Cultivate relationships with new churches, including congregations outside of traditional Christian Reformed Church (CRC) networks.
• Re-engage churches that have become inactive or under-engaged with World Renew.
• Develop proposals, partnership plans, stewardship reports, and impact updates tailored to individual church interests and priorities.
• Support growth opportunities through unrestricted giving, designated projects, disaster response initiatives, and strategic partnerships.
• Represent World Renew at conferences, denominational gatherings, church events, and networking opportunities.

Strategic Collaboration & Internal Partnership

• Collaborate with Church & Community Engagement team members to develop effective church engagement strategies.
• Partner with Philanthropy, Marketing & Communications, Disaster Response Services, International Programs, and other internal teams to provide a coordinated partnership experience.
• Coordinate with Canadian Church Relations colleagues to ensure consistency, alignment, and shared learning across regions.
• Engage senior leaders and organizational partners in cultivating strategic church relationships.
• Leverage existing networks, including delegates, volunteers, Disaster Response Services connections, and board relationships, to strengthen outreach.

Data Management, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Maintain accurate and timely records of church relationships, engagement activities, opportunities, and follow-up actions in Salesforce.
• Monitor partnership activity, giving trends, and engagement opportunities to support strategic decision-making.
• Provide insights and recommendations to strengthen church engagement strategies, messaging, and partnership approaches.
• Contribute to the development of innovative approaches for engaging churches and emerging ministry leaders.

Additional Responsibilities

• Perform other duties as assigned.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position has no direct supervisory responsibilities but may mentor interns, volunteers, or coordinate support for specific initiatives and events.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES REQUIRED:

• Ability to respect and support the mission, vision, and values of World Renew.
• Demonstrated commitment to Christ and recognition of this position as contributing to Kingdom work.
• Ability to articulate a biblical worldview and connect faith with World Renew's mission and programs.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and respectful cross-cultural relationships.
• Strong understanding of church structures, stewardship practices, and faith-based engagement models.
• Exceptional relationship-building skills with the ability to engage pastors, church leaders, volunteers, and denominational partners.
• Strong written, verbal, and public speaking communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to cultivate, steward, and grow partnerships or donor relationships.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to develop customized engagement approaches.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities independently.
• Experience using CRM or donor management systems (Salesforce preferred).
• Proficiency with Microsoft 365, Teams, and collaboration tools.
• Ability and willingness to travel regularly, including occasional evenings and weekends.

EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's degree in ministry, nonprofit leadership, communications, fundraising, business, or a related field required.
• Minimum of five (5) years of experience in church engagement, fundraising, donor relations, ministry leadership, nonprofit relationship management, or a related field.
• Demonstrated success cultivating and stewarding relationships with churches, donors, or strategic partners.
• Experience managing a portfolio of relationships preferred.
• Experience working within a faith-based organization strongly preferred.
• Understanding of the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) and familiarity with other evangelical denominations is an asset.

LANGUAGE SKILLS

• Fluency in English with strong written, oral, and presentation skills.
• Ability to communicate theological, humanitarian, and organizational concepts clearly to diverse audiences.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Primarily computer-based work with extended periods of sitting.
• Requires travel throughout the United States, averaging approximately 8-10 days per month (40-50%).
• Occasional evening and weekend commitments for church visits, conferences, presentations, and events.
• Occasional travel to Canada for team meetings and potential international travel related to church engagement initiatives.
• Ability to work independently while collaborating with a geographically dispersed team.
• Reasonable accommodations will be made for individuals with disabilities

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This position is based in Byron Center, Michigan.

The role requires frequent relationship-building, independent work, collaboration across teams, and flexibility to accommodate church schedules, events, and travel.