County Line Church of God
- Denomination: Church of God
- Location: Auburn, IN
- Size: 2214
- Website: https://www.countylinechurch.org/
- Hiring for: Worship Arts Director
The need
When County Line Church began searching for their next Worship Arts Pastor, they envisioned a humble leader of leaders who could develop their worship team long-term. For 17 years, a steady presence had shaped the worship culture at County Line Church. They were now in search of a leader who would stay the course for as long if not longer.
At County Line, worship is central to their ministries. One of their core values is to create weekly worship experiences for their congregation. Having a Worship Arts Pastor would be essential for the worship ministry to continue to spearhead that initiative and develop leaders who would do the same.
About County Line Church
County Line Church began in 1903, when a meeting house was built on the current church site with lumber cut from the property. Today, County Line Church continues the original vision, now with over 2,000 people across three campuses, witnessing hundreds of salvations and baptisms each year.
Their heart is to be one church, three locations. One mission unites them: “to equip every generation to intentionally live a Jesus-centered life.” This mission spills over into everything they do together. The community knows them for having a thriving kids’ ministry, supporting and sending global missions, and being Jesus-focused.
The ideal candidate
County Line needed someone who fit their team’s covenant: teachable, excellent, accountable, and mission-minded. While a mission and culture fit would be the most important challenges, they were also looking for the following qualities to identify qualified leaders:
- Leadership experience of 3-5 years as a worship leader
- Experience building and training teams in worship leadership
- Solid communication, organization, scheduling, and planning abilities
- Musical ability to lead the congregation, both vocally and with a primary instrument
- Innovative and creative
- Collaborative
- Relational
Their vision for the ideal candidate was shaped around the idea of gaining a leader who would develop others, having a ripple effect on the team and community at County Line Church.
Strategy and timing
Time was ticking, and County Line Church needed to act quickly to gain momentum for their search. That’s when they contacted Vanderbloemen for the first time, and Executive Search Consultant Rick Callahan was assigned the case. With 34 years of pastoral experience himself, Rick recognized the importance of this role.
Rick met the senior pastor and director of operations for an in-person interview and began to construct a profile including everything the team needed to know to find their right match. Rick worked alongside the recruiting team to put together a slate of candidates who checked all County Line Church’s boxes. After vetting the options for an authentic culture fit, Rick presented the candidates to the church.
About DeAundrae Clayton
That’s how County Line Church met their worship arts pastor, DeAundrae Clayton. He had been serving as a worship pastor in Phoenix, AZ, for about five years, and he was seeking the Lord’s guidance for a new position where he could serve alongside a church committed to “communicating God’s truth with relevance, creativity, and transforming power.” He had a desire to help develop teams of leaders and empower creative ideas. In summary, County Line Church could immediately see that DeAundrae shared their heart and vision.
By the time County Line Church offered DeAundrae the position, he had also received multiple other offers. In the end, he decided to join County Line Church. His acceptance ended a season of searching for him and County Line Church, providing both with an ideal outcome.
In addition to his DNA match, DeAundrae checked every box with his experience that exceeded expectations, including:
- Nearly a decade of worship ministry experience
- Experience developing and training leaders and musicians
- Commitment to discipleship
- Musicianship and creative arranging skills for vocal/instrumental ensembles
- Working knowledge of technology platforms useful to worship ministry
