Pastoral Posting

Saanich Community Church in beautiful Victoria, BC, is seeking a Lead Pastor who will provide Christ-centered leadership, guide the spiritual life of the congregation, and support our mission of following Jesus in community. The Pastor will work collaboratively within our congregational governance structure and be accountable to the Church Council. This role includes preaching and teaching, offering pastoral care, and encouraging the spiritual development of the congregation. The Pastor will help identify and cultivate the spiritual gifts within the church while modelling a life rooted in Scripture, prayer, and Anabaptist principles.

Qualifications include:
• A post-secondary degree in a relevant discipline, with seminary training preferred
• Experience in pastoral ministry
• Must be legally entitled to work in Canada, and in keeping with Canadian law; Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority
• Have the capacity to work in the Mennonite Brethren denomination and to be credentialed by the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (www.bcmb.org/credentialing)
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with church leadership and congregants

To Apply:
Please submit your cover letter and resume to by April 30, 2026.
We may conduct rolling interviews and appoint a candidate as applications come in, so interested candidates are encouraged to apply early.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you for your interest however only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Position Description

Job Title: Lead Pastor
Location: Victoria, BC, Canada
Position Type: Permanent, full-time preferred, but would consider part-time bi-vocational options
Reports To: Church Council
Affiliations: BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches and Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches
Salary: $75,000 – $90,000 plus benefits, to be negotiated commensurate with experience, education and qualifications (the salary range is aligned with the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches salary formula)

About Us:
Saanich Community Church exists to worship God with our whole lives, to build one another up as a community of faith, and to engage in God’s mission of good news in the world. We have a small but vibrant congregation of spiritually mature believers as well as those who are younger in their faith journey. The congregation has a strong degree of unity and collaboration. To learn more, please visit https://saanichcommunity.ca/

Role Summary:
We are seeking a Lead Pastor who will provide Christ-centered leadership, guide the spiritual life of the congregation, and support our mission of following Jesus in community. The Pastor will work collaboratively within our congregational governance structure and be accountable to the Church Council. This role includes preaching and teaching, offering pastoral care, and encouraging the spiritual development of the congregation. The Pastor will help identify and cultivate the spiritual gifts within the church while modelling a life rooted in Scripture, prayer, and Anabaptist principles.

Key Responsibilities:
• Preaching and teaching
• Discipleship
• Pastoral care
• Engagement with worship service planning and leading
• Engagement with the Victoria community and with the denomination

The weighting of these responsibilities will be developed collaboratively with the leadership team based on the gifting of the individual who is offered the position. We want you to
consider the gifts you bring to the position, and we will be open to the Spirit’s leading as to how those gifts might best be applied to ministry within our congregational setting.

The Ideal Candidate:
The ideal candidate feels clearly called by the Spirit to pastoral ministry and to serve as a humble, servant-leader for our church family. They demonstrate genuine care for people from many backgrounds and bring a passion for teaching, discipling, and helping individuals grow in their faith and relationship with Christ.

Qualifications:
• A post-secondary degree in a relevant discipline, with seminary training preferred
• Experience in pastoral ministry
• Must be legally entitled to work in Canada, and in keeping with Canadian law; Canadian citizens and permanent residents will be given priority
• Have the capacity to work in the Mennonite Brethren denomination and to be credentialed by the BC Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches (www.bcmb.org/credentialing)
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work collaboratively with church leadership and congregants

Saanich Community Church Profile

We have a small but vibrant congregation. Approximately 60 adults attend on a typical Sunday morning service. Membership is representative of all age groups but is weighted towards the over 65 category. There are several newcomer families that the church has supported in resettling here.

The congregation has a solid base of spiritually mature believers as well as those who are younger in their faith journey, and the congregation has a strong degree of unity and collaboration.

We are active in worship, community building and mission. Our Sunday worship services are built around congregational singing, scripture, prayer and expository teaching. Children’s ministries are provided during Sunday School and during the morning service. We typically have one or two small groups meeting in members’ homes, and a large and active women’s fellowship.

Once a month we have a post-service potluck lunch. We have hosted community events such as an Easter egg hunt and summer BBQ with the purpose of intentionally engaging our community neighbours.

We provide regular support to seven mission and service organizations and take special offerings to support other ministries in our community.

We encourage individuals and small groups to lead mission initiatives. Members maintain a large community garden on the church property that provides thousands of pounds of fresh food to the local food bank. Although not direct ministries of the church, we also strongly support individual members who are actively engaged with the Friends of the Mennonite Centre in Ukraine and with re-settling Afghan asylum seekers.

The church is in a sound financial position, with no mortgage on the building or other debts.

Church Purpose and Values Statements (First adopted in 2003, reaffirmed in 2024)

Our purpose is to worship God with our whole lives, build one another up as a community of faith, and engage in God’s mission in the world.

Values. As a congregation, we believe it is vital that we minister out of a common sense of who we are. The following core values shape the missional expression of our purpose:

Balance. God calls us to worship, to live as a community of Jesus’ disciples, and to embody and proclaim the gospel. We value integrating these three endeavours, not prioritizing them.

Innovation. Innovation allows us to more effectively bring God’s love into people’s lives. We value finding creative ways to edify one another, worship more authentically, and bring God’s good news to our world.

Anabaptist. We value our Anabaptist/Mennonite roots and we operate out of this tradition. We see the distinctive character of the Anabaptist movement as an important addition to the Victoria Christian Community. In keeping with our tradition, we welcome all those who want to seriously commit to following Jesus, regardless of their denominational backgrounds.

Diversity and Unity. Scripture calls us to “maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4.3). We value supporting and encouraging each other in our individual involvements, while still maintaining a strong sense of community. We realize that we need each other. Also, we value balancing the diversity of views within our congregation and working to maintain unity and loving relations in spite of our differences.

People. Saanich Community Church is a group of believers who gather regularly at 4566 West Saanich Road, Victoria, BC. Saanich Community Church is not contained within a building but exists wherever its people are found. We value the church gathered on Sunday morning, and we value the church scattered all over greater Victoria and beyond.

Equipping. We value teaching our people the story of God’s good news and equipping them to live as Christians wherever God has sent them.

Partnership. We value enhancing our effectiveness by building partnerships with other groups who share complementary purposes.

For further information about Saanich Community Church, please see our website at https://saanichcommunity.ca/

Greater Victoria Community Profile

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia. The Greater Victoria area is composed of 13 separate municipalities, with a population of just over 400,000. The church building is located in Saanich municipality, and congregational attendees reside throughout the region. The area is growing rapidly, with an increasingly large immigrant population, which provides exciting opportunities to minister in the community and grow in size and spiritual maturity.
The following community profile provides some basic demographic information for Greater Victoria and for the Royal Oak neighbourhood of Saanich, in which the church the building is located.

The links below will provide you with more information about Greater Victoria:
About Victoria (Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce)
Moving Here (Greater Victoria Chamber of Commerce)
Relocation Guide (Victoria Rising)
Living in Victoria (Tourism Victoria)

Community Demographic Profile – Greater Victoria

Greater Victoria had a population of around 400,000 people as of 2021. It has grown fairly rapidly in recent years, from a little under 350,000 people in 2011, with the fastest growth in the suburban communities of Langford and Sooke, west of Saanich. This growth has mainly been due to migration within Canada, and largely within BC, though the immigrant population has also grown from 60,000 in 2011 to 73,000 in 2021.

The average age in Victoria is 44.8, slightly higher than that of Canada overall (41.9). The two most common age groups in the population are those in their 30s and those in their late 50s to late 60s. A little under half (45%) of people who moved to Greater Victoria between 2016 and 2021 were in their 20s and 30s, while a little under half (46%) of people in Greater Victoria who had already lived there in 2016 were aged 55 or over. This means that, in contrast to Victoria’s earlier reputation as a place where people move to retire, in recent years the pattern has been younger people moving here to study or work, and older residents reaching retirement age. The share of the population that is aged 65 or over has risen from 18% in 2011 to 23% in 2021. Population projections suggest that Victoria may continue growing to around 473,000 people by 2041, and that by then its population will be 28% seniors.

The most common backgrounds mentioned by people in Greater Victoria on the 2021 Census are English, Scottish, and Irish, though other common ones include German (12.3%), French (8.1%), and Ukrainian (4.8%). In addition, 5.0% of the population is Indigenous; this population tends to be younger, with over half being under age 35. The share of the population who are members of racialized minority groups has risen from 11% in 2011 to 17% (65,000) in 2021, with the largest racialized minority groups being Chinese (4.5%), South Asian (3.5%), and Filipino (2.2%). About 40% of the Chinese and South Asian population are Canadian-born, as are about a quarter of Filipinos. Population projections suggest that 25% of the population of Victoria could be members of racialized minority groups by 2041, with the Filipino population more than doubling.

Virtually everyone in Victoria knows English; about 10% know both English and French. Around 85% speak only English at home; of other languages spoken at home (with or without English), the most common is Mandarin, followed by Cantonese, Punjabi, and Tagalog (Filipino).

Less than a third of the population of Victoria identify as Christian (32.7%), while 60% identify as non-religious. This is a sharp change from 2011, when 45% identified as Christian and 49% identified as non-religious. Among younger people, the share who identify as Christian is even lower: 20% of those aged 20 to 24, and 17% of those aged 25 to 34, compared with 55% of seniors. The number of people in Victoria who specifically reported their religion as Mennonite on the 2021 Census was 400. The number who reported Mennonite as an ethnocultural background was 1,190; of these, 585 identified as Christian and 525 identified as non-religious.

The population of Victoria is largely well-educated, with 39% of people aged 25 to 64 having a
bachelor’s degree or higher and another 31% having a college, trade or similar credential. Seniors also tend to be highly educated, with 32% having a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 19% of seniors in Canada overall; over 10% of seniors have a master’s degree or doctorate. Compared with the rest of Canada, people in Greater Victoria who have a bachelor’s degree or higher are relatively more likely to have studied the humanities, sciences, or social sciences, and less likely to have studied business.

Among people in Greater Victoria who were working in 2021, the most common industry was health care and social assistance (14.2%), which was also the most common in Canada overall (12.8%). The second-most common was public administration (13.0%), more than twice the share for Canada overall (6.1%), due to the large number of people working in the BC provincial government. The third most common was professional, scientific and technical services (9.6%), which includes the tech sector, engineering companies, accounting companies, and various other skilled services. Average incomes tend to be high (around $80,000) for people working in public administration or in professional, scientific and technical services; common industries with lower earnings ($30,000s and $40,000s) are retail trade and accommodation and food services.

The Saanich Community Church congregation is drawn from all across Greater Victoria (and has a few members in other cities who attend Sunday morning worship services remotely). The area around the church is a mix of single-family housing (54%) and row houses, duplexes, and low-rise apartments (33%) and has two shopping centres, Royal Oak Shopping Centre and Broadmead Village. Households living in this area are a mix of couples without children (33%), couples with children (24%) and people living alone (23%); most are homeowners (79%). The population of this area is 29% seniors. The share of the population who are Chinese (7%) or South Asian (5%) is higher than in Greater Victoria as a whole, while the share of the population who are Indigenous is much lower (under 1%). About three-quarters of people in the neighborhood are Canadian-born. Around 80% of people in the neighborhood have lived in Greater Victoria for over five years; of the other 20% who moved to Greater Victoria between 2016 and 2021, the majority moved there from elsewhere in BC. The share of the population who identify as Christian (39%) is higher than in Greater Victoria as a whole, with the most common denominations being Catholic, Anglican, and United Church.