Manager of Spiritual Formation

Oliver Gospel Mission Inc•Columbia, SC

17h•$57,000 - $70,000•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager of Spiritual Formation leads Oliver Gospel's mission-wide Spiritual Formation discipline under the direction and organizational accountability of the Director of Programs. The Manager establishes and strengthens a consistent, Christ-centered framework for discipleship, pastoral care, biblical counseling, worship, teaching, spiritual formation, and healthy connection to Christian community across Oliver Gospel programs and facilities. The role carries two connected mandates: internally, to ensure high-quality, biblically faithful, person-centered Spiritual Formation is integrated into Oliver Gospel's interdisciplinary Care Team model; externally, to provide subject-matter leadership for the spiritual-formation, discipleship, and equipping components of Oliver Gospel's approved strategy to mobilize churches and Christian partners. External ministry activity remains subject to organizational strategy, delegated authority, partnership structures, resource priorities, and executive leadership direction.

Requirements

A believer in Jesus Christ.
Affirm without reservation Oliver Gospel’s Statement of Faith.
Fully support Oliver Gospel Mission and Vision’s Statements.
Demonstrate the ability and desire to work in harmony with other Oliver Gospel employees.
Be on time and ready to work at the assigned work location on every scheduled workday.
Possess a valid South Carolina driver’s license.
Ordained minister in good standing with a recognized Christian denomination, church body, or ministry network consistent with Oliver Gospel's Statement of Faith and employment requirements.
Master of Divinity (MDiv) or equivalent graduate-level theological education from an appropriately accredited institution.
Minimum five (5) years of progressively responsible pastoral ministry experience, including preaching/teaching, discipleship, and pastoral care.
Minimum two (2) years of formal staff supervision, ministry-team leadership, or comparable people-leadership responsibility.
Demonstrated experience serving people affected by homelessness, substance use/addiction, incarceration, poverty, trauma, family instability, or similarly complex circumstances.
Demonstrated knowledge of Christian spiritual formation and discipleship models and ability to translate theological convictions into consistent ministry practice.
Demonstrated ability to maintain clear boundaries between pastoral/biblical care, Case Management, residential operations, and licensed clinical treatment.
Experience working collaboratively in multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary environments.
Ability to teach, equip, and communicate effectively with staff, churches, volunteers, community partners, and diverse audiences.
Ability and willingness to work within Oliver Gospel's organizational accountability structure and under the direction of the Director of Programs.

Nice To Haves

Formal training in pastoral counseling, biblical counseling, spiritual direction, trauma-informed ministry, or a related discipline.
Experience in rescue missions, faith-based recovery programs, homelessness services, or residential ministry environments.
Experience developing ministry curriculum, competency standards, outcome measures, or quality-improvement processes.
Experience equipping churches or ministry networks for structured community engagement, mentoring, discipleship, or service partnerships.

Responsibilities

Own and steward the Spiritual Formation discipline across Oliver Gospel programs and facilities rather than allowing separate facility-based ministry models to develop.
Design, implement, evaluate, and continuously improve a coherent Spiritual Formation framework appropriate to emergency shelter, substance use recovery, longer-term recovery-to-independence programming, and other approved programs.
Establish biblically faithful standards for discipleship, pastoral care, biblical counseling, prayer ministry, worship, teaching, spiritual disciplines, and connection to Christian community.
Ensure Spiritual Formation remains aligned with Oliver Gospel's approved program strategy, Statement of Faith, Mission, Vision, Values & How We Work framework, and Director of Programs' direction.
Develop meaningful measures of spiritual engagement and growth that focus on observable participation, self-identified goals, practices, relationships, and outcomes without claiming to measure the authenticity of a person's faith.
Ensure spiritual care respects the dignity, preferences, informed choices, spiritual background, and stated goals of persons served within Oliver Gospel's faith-based mission.
Establish practices that invite meaningful spiritual engagement without manipulation, inappropriate pressure, or confusing spiritual participation with clinical treatment.
Ensure spiritual goals and interventions are individualized rather than imposed through a one-size-fits-all facility model.
Train staff to document spiritual-care activity objectively and appropriately while protecting sensitive information and respecting applicable confidentiality requirements.
Ensure Spiritual Formation staff recognize when a guest's expressed need requires Case Management, Residential Support, medical, mental-health, substance-use clinical, safety, or other specialized intervention.
Lead, supervise, coach, and develop Pastors and Biblical Counselors across programs and facilities.
Define role-specific Spiritual Formation competencies and ensure competency is assessed during onboarding, supervision, performance management, and ongoing development.
Establish regular supervision, theological/pastoral consultation, case consultation, training, and professional-development rhythms.
Address performance, boundary, theological, ethical, documentation, teamwork, or cultural concerns promptly and consistently.
Develop staff capable of serving high-acuity populations affected by homelessness, addiction, trauma, poverty, family instability, grief, and other complex circumstances while remaining within professional scope.
Champion the principle: One Mission. One Guest. One Coordinated Plan. Distinct Roles. Shared Outcomes.
Ensure Pastors and Biblical Counselors participate effectively in interdisciplinary Care Teams and contribute spiritual-formation insight without assuming Case Management, residential operations, or clinical authority.
Partner with Case Management, Residential Support, Intake & Program Access, external Mental & Behavioral Health providers, and other disciplines to coordinate support around guest-defined goals and needs.
Establish clear referral and escalation pathways when spiritual conversations reveal clinical, safety, housing, resource, operational, or other needs outside Spiritual Formation's scope.
Resolve cross-disciplinary issues within delegated authority and elevate unresolved ownership, program-design, risk, or resource issues to the Director of Programs.
Establish and enforce clear distinctions between pastoral care/biblical counseling and licensed behavioral-health assessment, diagnosis, psychotherapy, clinical treatment planning, and other regulated clinical services.
Ensure Biblical Counselors and Pastors do not represent themselves as licensed clinicians unless separately qualified, credentialed, authorized, and functioning in an explicitly approved clinical role.
Coordinate appropriate referral to qualified external Mental & Behavioral Health providers when needs exceed Spiritual Formation scope.
Support integrated specialty care while protecting clinical independence and preventing either Spiritual Formation or external providers from developing siloed or parallel guest-care systems.
Ensure spiritual support complements rather than substitutes for clinically indicated treatment.
Oversee mission-wide standards and calendars for chapel, Bible studies, devotionals, worship, discipleship groups, and other approved Spiritual Formation activities.
Develop or approve biblically sound curriculum and teaching resources appropriate to the populations and program phases served.
Preach, teach, facilitate, or provide direct pastoral care as needed while protecting sufficient capacity for discipline leadership.
Establish standards for guest speakers, ministry volunteers, church-led activities, and other external spiritual-programming contributors.
Coordinate scheduling and implementation with Residential Support and other program leaders so spiritual programming supports rather than disrupts safety, structure, and program operations.
Partner with the Director of Programs and other designated organizational leaders to implement Oliver Gospel's approved strategy for mobilizing the faith community.
Provide subject-matter leadership for trauma-informed, Scripture-aligned training that equips churches and Christian partners to engage vulnerable populations with wisdom, consistency, appropriate boundaries, and compassion.
Help develop clear church-participation pathways for discipleship, mentoring, relational support, Christian community connection, and other approved program needs.
Support a phased engagement model that moves appropriate church partners from awareness to engagement to sustained ownership within defined organizational structures.
Help prepare churches to receive and support guests transitioning toward long-term Christian community, mentoring, discipleship, and relational connection when desired and appropriate.
Contribute to shared measures that evaluate the effectiveness, consistency, and community impact of approved faith-community partnerships.
Operate all church engagement, training, discipleship partnerships, and external Spiritual Formation activities within Oliver Gospel's approved strategy and delegated organizational authority.
Develop and recommend initiatives within the Spiritual Formation discipline but do not independently establish organizational partnerships, commitments, programs, public positions, financial obligations, or resource priorities outside delegated authority.
Coordinate with departments that retain responsibility for Development, Volunteer Services, Communications, partnership administration, or other organizational functions rather than absorbing those functions into Spiritual Formation.
Ensure churches and ministry partners participate through defined pathways and do not independently create Oliver Gospel programming, direct guest care, or make commitments on behalf of Oliver Gospel.
Represent Oliver Gospel faithfully and professionally in churches, ministry networks, community settings, and other approved external forums.
Establish practical indicators for Spiritual Formation quality, participation, guest-defined spiritual goals, church/community connection, staff competency, referrals, and approved external partnership outcomes.
Distinguish outputs such as attendance or number of activities from meaningful indicators of engagement, growth, connection, and sustained support.
Use data, guest feedback, staff observations, Care Team learning, partner feedback, and program outcomes to identify opportunities for improvement.
Provide the Director of Programs with clear information regarding performance, risks, boundary concerns, resource needs, partnership opportunities, and recommended action.
Support CARF readiness by ensuring Spiritual Formation practices are implemented consistently, documented appropriately, person-centered, competency-based, coordinated, and subject to quality improvement.
Perform other duties and responsibilities consistent with the purpose and level of the position, as assigned by the supervisor, to support the needs of Oliver Gospel Mission and its residents.