Tom price baptist church | pastor

Job Overview

This role requires a pastor who is relational, grounded, administratively capable, and able to minister across a congregation with diverse denominational backgrounds, life experiences, and levels of faith. Tom Price Baptist Church is seeking a pastor to lead and serve our church community in the remote Pilbara town of Tom Price, Western Australia. We are a Baptist church ministering in a unique regional context, where life is shaped by mining rosters, family pressures, distance, workforce turnover, and the reality that many people are present for only a season. This setting presents both significant challenges and rich opportunities for local church ministry. We are seeking a pastor who will preach Scripture faithfully, care for people well, lead wisely, and help us remain a steady, welcoming, Christ‐centred presence in the town.

We are looking for someone who understands that ministry in Tom Price is not only about gathering people, but also about forming, equipping, empowering, and sending people. The pastor will also be one of the few locally available ministers able to conduct weddings and funerals, making this role a significant point of pastoral and community connection beyond the church itself, and an important presence within the wider town. The role offered will be for three (3) days per week, preferably commencing in early ______. Tom Price is an established mining town established by Rio Tinto Iron in the late ______s. The current residential population of Tom Price is around 3,000 with a median age of 32. There is a high FIFO workforce with 75% of workers living elsewhere. Tom Price is located near Karijini National Park, a premier tourist destination in Western Australia that attracts more than 650,000 visitors annually. Approximately 60,000 people pass through the Tom Price Visitor Centre each year, with many staying several nights in town and some attending church services during their visit. The town currently has two primary schools and one secondary school, which regularly seek to fill chaplaincy roles. This may provide additional ministry opportunities that could complement the part‐time pastoral role.

About the Church

Tom Price Baptist Church is affiliated with Baptist Churches Western Australia and seeks to be a faithful local expression of Christ's church in our town. We are evangelical in conviction, Baptist in identity, and diverse in the backgrounds and life experiences people bring. Our congregation includes committed Christians, newer believers, children, youth, workers, families, and people exploring faith. We gather weekly for Sunday worship, run a youth program during Terms 2 and 3, and play a significant role in the town's end‐of‐year Christmas carols.

Job Qualities and Associated Roles (Responsibilities & Leadership)

• A strong, self‐motivated leader who can impart vision and direction, build rather than merely maintain the church, recognise and nurture the gifting within the church family for service, and demonstrate effective time management with strong organisational skills.
• A skilled communicator who can relate to and build meaningful relationships within both the church and the wider community.
• A well‐balanced and adaptable person able to thrive in a remote Pilbara context.
• The capacity to provide pastoral care with warmth, wisdom, and emotional maturity, alongside the ability to recognise and appropriately respond to mental health and psychosocial issues, supported by healthy self‐awareness, good personal boundaries, and resilience in ministry.
• Cultural awareness, including the ability to minister respectfully within the Aboriginal and cultural realities of the Pilbara.
• A team‐oriented leader who supports women and men serving together in ministry and is committed to developing others rather than working in isolation.
• A person of integrity, willing to speak the truth in love with courage and humility.

Previous Experience and Qualifications

• Previous experience working with families and Aboriginal people would be highly valued.
• Formal qualifications in biblical or theological studies are essential.
• While training from a Baptist Theological College is not mandatory, the pastor must be willing to minister in alignment with, and within the framework of, the Baptist Church Constitution of Western Australia.

Key Activities

• Pastoral care of the Church fellowship.
• Coordination of Sunday Worship services.
• Supporting and working collaboratively with the Tom Price church fellowship and its activities, while also engaging constructively with the wider Christian community in Tom Price.
• Demonstrated commitment to Secure Church standards, including proactive safeguarding, oversight, and implementation of Safe Church practices within the life of the church.

Appointment

The successful applicant will be expected to meet the normal requirements for pastoral ministry within Baptist Churches Western Australia, including theological alignment, safeguarding requirements, and any relevant accreditation or recognised ministry standing. Salary package, housing arrangements, and ministry conditions will be discussed with shortlisted applicants.