Explore the EcosystemsDiscover the connected parts of the wider mission
Explore the InitiativesSee the ideas and efforts growing into action
Propose an InitiativeBring an idea that could help others take rootTHE OPPORTUNITY, AT A GLANCE
A small beginning. A meaningful calling.
- Location
- Dolan Springs, Arizona
- Role
- Founding Pastor / Church Planter
- Stage
- Developing · Pre-launch
- Ministry model
- Local gatherings + digital relationships
- Primary focus
- Scripture, worship, discipleship, pastoral care, outreach, and equipping leaders
- Training
- Formal theological or pastoral training strongly preferred
This is a founding opportunity, not an established pastorate. Role structure and financial arrangements are still being developed. See the practical details ↓
OUR THEOLOGICAL DIRECTION
Our doctrinal identity
Starfish Church is a developing, independent, non-denominational evangelical Christian church, centered on Jesus Christ, grounded in Scripture, and committed to gathering in faith, growing through discipleship, and putting Christ’s love into action.
We welcome biblically grounded pastors from independent evangelical, Baptist, Wesleyan, and other relevant backgrounds who can affirm Starfish Church’s own convictions, including salvation by grace, the seriousness of deliberate apostasy, believer’s baptism by immersion, open communion, and accountable pastoral leadership. Denominational background alone is neither a qualification nor a disqualification.
Our consolidated proposed Statement of Faith is available for review. It has not yet been adopted by a church board. We invite prospective founding pastors to study it carefully and discuss areas of agreement and reservations honestly.
AN INVITATION TO BEGIN
Starfish Church is a new Christ-centered church being formed in and around Dolan Springs, Arizona.
We are not looking for someone to step into an established church with an established building, staff, programs, traditions, and expectations.
We are looking for someone who feels called to help build something from the ground up.
Someone who can preach and teach Scripture faithfully—but who also wants to know people by name.
Someone who can shepherd a small beginning without being discouraged by its size.
Someone who believes the Church is more than a Sunday gathering.
Someone who can help ordinary people discover what God has already placed in their hands and equip them to use it for Christ.
Someone who recognizes that ministry today can happen both face-to-face and through digital relationships.
If that sounds like the kind of ministry God may be preparing you for, we'd like to hear from you.
Why Starfish Church?
Starfish Church is being developed around a simple rhythm:
Gather. Grow. Go.
Gather around Christ. Worship, Scripture, teaching, prayer, communion, testimony, and a shared sense of direction.
Grow together. Relationships, discipleship, prayer, pastoral care, encouragement, and genuine belonging—in homes, around tables, online, and wherever community can form.
Go where you're sent. Faith carried outward into neighborhoods, families, workplaces, caregiving, service, ministry, and the needs of the surrounding community.
We don't want people merely to attend church.
We want to help people become the Church wherever God places them.
Why Dolan Springs?
Dolan Springs is where we believe this vision should begin taking local shape.
The high desert is not simply a backdrop for Starfish Church. It is the community we want to know, love, serve, and become part of.
We don't want to transplant a finished church model into the community.
We want to listen first.
We want to learn the people, families, needs, strengths, history, challenges, relationships, and opportunities already present here.
And then we want to ask:
Where is God already at work, and how can we join Him?
The first gathering doesn't need to begin in a permanent sanctuary.
We’re preparing a home for our first gatherings, while praying for a founding pastor who can help us build something far greater than a place to meet. A borrowed space, community setting, outdoor gathering, or another appropriate place can also become a beginning.
A place to begin
The founder owns a local home that he has offered as a potential initial gathering place for Starfish Church, providing a practical place to begin building relationships and community.
He intends to work with an attorney on an appropriate trust arrangement to support the church’s future use of the property. The trust and any property transfer remain subject to legal review and documentation; no transfer has been completed.
We don't need to begin with a traditional church building. We have an opportunity to begin somewhere personal, welcoming, and rooted in the community—and allow the church to grow from there.
The building is not the center.
Christ is.
A PERSONAL WORD FROM OUR FOUNDER
A personal word from our founder
I feel incredibly blessed to have had this vision placed before me. And in many ways, I find it remarkable that some of the most meaningful things I’ve come to understand have grown out of experiences I never would have chosen.
My background is in technology, entrepreneurship, and building organizations and solutions. But my life’s journey has taken me far beyond the world of business.
Following a motorcycle accident and traumatic brain injury, I began a long and difficult journey through suffering, healing, and restoration. Through those experiences, my return to Christian faith, and the challenges of caregiving, I began to see things differently. Not only about my own life, but about the struggles so many people face, often quietly and without the help, understanding, or connections they desperately need.
What began as a personal journey has gradually become something much larger in my heart.
I’ve come to believe that we have extraordinary opportunities to bring faith, compassion, healing, community, and practical innovation together in ways that can genuinely change lives. To rethink how we care for one another. To recognize the gifts God has already placed in people’s hands. And to help those gifts become meaningful action.
I believe we have an opportunity to do far more good together than any of us could accomplish alone.
And perhaps what excites me most is that I don’t believe this vision needs to be confined to a single church, community, organization, or even a particular kind of ministry.
I believe it has the potential to grow into something resembling a movement. Ordinary people, drawn together by faith and purpose, discovering how they can make an extraordinary difference in the lives of others.
Starfish Church is one expression of that broader vision, and I believe its spiritual foundation is essential.
My own gifts and experience are largely in vision, technology, organization, operations, and helping people and resources come together. I see my role as one of building, supporting, serving, and helping create opportunities for others to flourish.
I’m hoping to find a founding pastor whose calling, biblical understanding, and heart for people can help establish and shepherd a healthy, Christ-centered church. Someone whose gifts complement my own, and who shares a desire to discover what God may be calling us to build together.
I also believe meaningful service should make room for the realities of people’s lives, including their abilities, circumstances, limitations, and seasons. We don’t all have to contribute in the same way, or carry the same responsibilities, to be part of something extraordinary.
The vision is bigger than any one of us. And that’s part of what makes it so exciting.
I don’t know exactly where this journey will lead. But I feel deeply grateful for what has been placed before me, humbled by the responsibility, and genuinely excited about the people God may bring together along the way.
Perhaps you’re one of them.
And perhaps, together, we can help bring something into the world that reaches further, serves more people, and makes a greater difference than any of us could have imagined.
Trevor ChevalierFounder & Ministry Leader
What kind of pastor are we looking for?
We are looking for a pastor, shepherd, church planter, communicator, and equipper—not simply a preacher.
The ideal candidate will combine theological depth with genuine pastoral warmth, practical leadership, humility, creativity, and a willingness to start small.
Biblically grounded
You have a high view of Scripture and are able to teach it clearly, faithfully, and thoughtfully.
Theologically trained
Formal theological or pastoral training is strongly preferred. Seminary education, a pastoral ministry degree, or comparable training is valuable to us.
We are more interested in genuine theological competence and faithful application than in credentials for their own sake.
A shepherd
You genuinely care about people. You want to know them, pray with them, visit them, encourage them, disciple them, walk with them through grief and hardship, and help them grow in Christ.
A church planter
You are comfortable building something that doesn't yet exist. You don't need a large crowd, a polished facility, or a large staff in order to feel like ministry is happening.
An equipper
You don't believe the pastor is supposed to do all the ministry. You want to identify gifts, develop leaders, disciple people, and help others discover where God can use them.
Relational
You enjoy sitting across a table from people as much as standing behind a pulpit.
Community-minded
You want to become part of the community rather than simply establish a church within it.
Adaptable
You can hold firmly to biblical convictions while remaining flexible about methods, structures, locations, and programs.
Humble
You don't need Starfish Church to become a monument to your personality or leadership. We want accountable pastoral leadership and strong biblical grounding without building the church around one human personality.
Missionally minded
You see the church as something that is sent—not something that exists primarily to attract people into a building.
Comfortable with technology and video
Starfish Church believes technology can be a powerful tool for ministry when it is used intentionally and relationally.
We are looking for a pastor who is comfortable being on camera and communicating through video.
You don't need to be a technology expert, professional videographer, or social-media influencer. But you should be willing to learn, experiment, and engage people through the digital spaces where they already spend their time.
This could include:
- Short teaching or devotional videos
- Livestreams
- Online Bible studies or conversations
- Social-media engagement
- Digital discipleship
- Video responses and encouragement
- Online community-building
- New forms of communication and ministry as technology evolves
We are interested in someone who sees technology not merely as a way to broadcast a sermon, but as a potential way to connect with people, begin relationships, encourage believers, disciple others, and extend the reach of the Gospel.
At the same time, we don't believe technology should replace genuine Christian community.
We want someone who understands how digital ministry can strengthen—not replace—real relationships and local church community.
What we are NOT looking for
This may be just as important.
We're probably not the right church for someone who primarily wants:
- A large existing congregation
- A finished facility
- A large ministry staff
- A predetermined program calendar
- A church where the pastor does most of the ministry
- A position where success is primarily measured by attendance
- A community that already has everything figured out
- A ministry where the pastor can simply continue doing what he has always done
- A role that requires little experimentation with new forms of communication
- A ministry where technology and online engagement are viewed as distractions rather than potential tools
We are beginning with much less certainty—and much more possibility.
What would you actually be doing?
The first season will be about laying foundations rather than maintaining programs.
Some of your early priorities would likely include:
1. Establishing a healthy spiritual foundation
Help establish regular worship, biblical teaching, prayer, communion, discipleship, and a culture centered on Christ.
2. Building relationships
Get to know people in Dolan Springs. Listen. Visit. Share meals. Learn the community. Build trust.
3. Developing a core team
Identify people who want to help build the church and begin developing them into healthy, capable leaders.
4. Creating a culture of discipleship
Help people move beyond attending toward growing in Christ, serving others, discovering their gifts, and making disciples.
5. Providing genuine pastoral care
People need to be known, prayed for, visited, encouraged, discipled, and supported through grief and hardship. That responsibility cannot be outsourced to technology.
6. Serving the community
Look for real needs and real opportunities to put the love of Christ into action. Not every ministry idea needs to begin immediately. We want to learn to recognize what God is actually opening.
7. Developing a digital ministry presence
Video and online communication will be an important part of how Starfish connects with people. We expect the pastor to participate in developing this area of ministry.
That may include short-form video, longer teaching, livestreams, online conversations, social-media engagement, digital Bible studies, devotional content, and other approaches we discover together.
The goal isn't to chase technology for its own sake.
The goal is to use available tools to build genuine relationships, communicate the Gospel, encourage people, disciple believers, and connect with people who may never initially walk through a church door.
We want someone who is comfortable experimenting and learning what works without becoming dependent on algorithms, trends, or technology for its own sake.
8. Developing the church's local expression
Starfish has a wider vision, but the Dolan Springs church should become genuinely rooted in Dolan Springs.
We don't want to manufacture something artificial. We want to discover what this particular community needs and what the people God brings here can become.
A POSSIBLE FIRST SEASON
What might the first 6–12 months look like?
We would shape the first year together with the right pastor, not hand over a finished calendar. These are possible priorities rather than fixed milestones or promises—and listening to the community may change the order.
Listen and lay foundations
Pray, meet neighbors and local ministry leaders, learn the community, clarify biblical and pastoral priorities, and begin forming appropriate leadership and accountability.
Gather and disciple
Explore small gatherings for prayer, Scripture, worship, and fellowship; care for people personally; begin equipping a core group; and test simple digital ways to stay connected.
Discern what should grow
Strengthen healthy rhythms, develop emerging leaders, learn from outreach, review sustainability and resources, and discern whether new gatherings or ministries are appropriate.
This is not a promise of a full-time role, a scheduled church launch, or a particular number of participants. Faithfulness, healthy relationships, and sustainable ministry matter more than meeting an arbitrary deadline.
What success looks like
We will celebrate growth. But we don't want attendance to become our only definition of success.
We want to see:
- People growing in Christ
- People genuinely cared for
- People discovering their gifts
- People becoming disciples who make disciples
- Leaders being developed
- Needs being addressed
- Relationships being strengthened
- The community being served
- People being sent into ministry
- New ministry opportunities emerging
- Healthy things being multiplied
- People being reached through both physical and digital relationships
Sometimes success may mean something growing larger.
Sometimes success may mean equipping someone and sending them somewhere else.
We believe that is still Kingdom growth.
Room to serve in the wider vision
Starfish Church is one expression of a broader vision of healing, restoration, compassion, and community. The founding pastor's primary calling in this invitation is to help establish and shepherd a healthy, Christ-centered church.
Other charitable, nonprofit, or separately organized projects may develop alongside the church. Participation in those efforts would be entirely voluntary, based on a person's gifts and interests, and distinct from pastoral duties. Any separate employment or business arrangements, if ever relevant, would require independent agreements, appropriate governance, and conflict-of-interest safeguards. No outside role or financial opportunity is promised.
HONEST ABOUT THE REAL-WORLD DETAILS
Practical details of the pastoral role
A serious candidate deserves to understand what is—and is not—established. The pastoral role’s hours, full-time or part-time status, compensation, benefits, moving assistance, and housing arrangements have not yet been defined. We do not currently offer a guaranteed salary, housing benefit, or relocation package through this invitation.
Starfish Church is in formation. State incorporation, initial board appointments, the federal EIN, and church banking are still being organized; no formal religious corporation or paid pastoral position should be assumed to be in place yet.
We are open to discussing a phased or bi-vocational beginning, if appropriate, as well as what it could take to develop sustainable paid pastoral ministry over time. The right arrangement would need to reflect the pastor’s calling and practical needs, the church’s resources, responsible governance, and applicable legal requirements.
A local, founder-owned home has been offered as a potential gathering place. This is not an offer of pastoral housing; the proposed trust arrangement and any transfer remain subject to legal review and documentation.
Before anyone is asked to relocate or make a significant commitment, we want to discuss responsibilities, time expectations, available resources, leadership and accountability, and financial feasibility candidly. We would rather be clear early than make promises we cannot yet keep.
The kind of person who might thrive here
You might be a particularly good fit if you have ever thought:
“I love the Church, but I don't think the Church is supposed to be confined to a building.”
“I'd rather build something healthy from the ground up than inherit something large.”
“I want to disciple people, not just preach to them.”
“I want to know my community.”
“I don't need to be the most important person in the room.”
“I don't have to know exactly what the church will become before I take the first faithful step.”
“I'd rather equip ten people to serve than have ten people depend on me.”
“I believe God can do something significant through a small beginning.”
“I'm comfortable communicating on camera.”
“I'm willing to learn how technology can help us connect with and disciple people.”
“I see online ministry as an opportunity for relationship and discipleship—not simply another place to broadcast a sermon.”
If those statements resonate with you, we'd especially like to talk.
The Church within a wider vision
Beyond Starfish Church, the wider vision explores healing, restoration, community, and ways to connect real needs with compassionate action. These efforts may complement the church without automatically becoming church ministries.
Starfish Church has its own clear spiritual purpose. Christ and the Gospel remain central to worship, teaching, discipleship, pastoral care, and the life of the congregation.
What we're praying for
We're praying for a pastor who will not simply ask:
“How big can this church become?”
but:
“What is God asking us to be faithful with right now?”
We're praying for someone who will love Christ, love Scripture, love people, love the community, and be willing to begin with whatever God puts in front of us.
Someone who can stand in front of a small gathering on Sunday and preach faithfully.
Someone who can sit at a kitchen table and listen.
Someone who can stand in front of a camera and speak naturally to someone who may be watching alone from home.
Someone who can help a new believer take a first step.
Someone who can recognize a potential leader and help that person grow.
Someone who can walk into the community without assuming that we already know what it needs.
Maybe that's you.
What we'd like to know about you
If you are interested in exploring this opportunity, we'd like to learn about you before we ask you to make any decisions.
About your calling
Why do you believe God has called you to pastoral ministry?
About church planting
What attracts you to helping establish a church rather than leading an established congregation?
About Dolan Springs
What attracts you to serving in a small rural/high-desert community?
About discipleship
Tell us about someone you have personally discipled or helped grow spiritually.
About pastoral care
Tell us about a difficult season in someone's life in which you were able to walk alongside them pastorally.
About leadership
How do you believe a pastor should equip other people to do ministry?
About technology
How comfortable are you with video and online communication?
Please tell us about any experience you have with video, livestreaming, social media, online Bible studies, digital discipleship, podcasts or other digital media, online community building, or other technology-enabled ministry.
Experience isn't necessarily required. We're interested in your willingness to learn and your vision for using technology well.
About digital ministry
What do you believe the role of online ministry should be in the life of a local church?
About Starfish
After reading this page and exploring the Starfish Church vision, what excites you—and what questions or concerns do you have?
You don't need to have perfect answers.
We're interested in how you think, what you value, and whether there may be a genuine calling and fit here.
Come see what God might do.
Gather around Christ.
Grow together.
Go where you're sent.
Starfish Church is just beginning.
Maybe you're part of what comes next.
