Executive Assistant - Fourth Presbyterian Church

Executive Assistant to the Senior Pastor/Head of Staff Fourth Presbyterian Church of Chicago, Illinois September 2026 Classification: Exempt

Status: Regular, Full-time

Reports To: Senior Pastor and Head of Staff

Location: Downtown Chicago, IL

About Fourth Presbyterian Church Fourth Presbyterian Church is a vibrant, inclusive, and service-oriented community in the heart of downtown Chicago. Guided by our Long-Range Plan, we are committed to deepening faith, building connections, fostering community partnerships, and ensuring long-term sustainability through thoughtful leadership and innovation. Through its nonprofit partner Chicago Lights, Fourth Church also provides life-changing community programs including tutoring, social services, and the Chicago Lights Urban Farm.

Position Overview The Executive Assistant provides high-level, confidential, and proactive executive support to the Senior Pastor/Head of Staff of Fourth Presbyterian Church. The Executive Assistant also supports the Senior Associate Pastor and the Executive Director of Operational Ministries.

This is a highly trusted position that serves as an essential partner to the Senior Pastor in managing the complexity, pace, relationships, and priorities associated with leading a large, historic, urban congregation. The Executive Assistant ensures that the Senior Pastor is prepared to lead effectively across the many dimensions of their ministry—including worship and preaching, pastoral care, staff leadership, congregational life, Session leadership, stewardship and resource development, denominational relationships, community engagement, and the broader life of the city.

The Executive Assistant serves as a key point of connection between the Senior Pastor and members, officers, staff, denominational leaders, community partners, clergy colleagues, donors, visitors, and other internal and external constituencies. The position requires exceptional judgment, discretion, emotional intelligence, hospitality, organizational ability, and the capacity to anticipate needs before they become urgent.

The successful candidate will bring both executive-level administrative excellence and a deep respect for the pastoral nature of the Senior Pastor’s work. The person will understand that many of the matters coming through the Senior Pastor’s office involve people’s lives, faith, grief, celebrations, relationships, and deeply personal circumstances and therefore require warmth, tact, confidentiality, and care. The Executive Assistant will help create the conditions in which the Senior Pastor can focus on the highest priorities of her ministry and leadership while ensuring that commitments, communications, meetings, and follow-through are handled with precision and grace.

Essential Responsibilities Executive Support and Partnership

• Serve as the primary administrative partner to the Senior Pastor, developing a highly effective working relationship built on trust, communication, discretion, and mutual respect. Manage the Senior Pastor’s complex and dynamic calendar, maintaining a forward-looking calendar that allows the Senior Pastor to prepare appropriately for significant meetings, worship services, presentations, sermons, public engagements, and pastoral responsibilities.
• Coordinate meetings for the Senior Associate Pastor and Executive Director of Operational Ministries and maintain their calendars.
• Proactively anticipate scheduling conflicts, competing priorities, preparation requirements, travel considerations, and other logistical needs.
• Prepare the Senior Pastor for meetings by gathering agendas, briefing materials, background information, participant information, previous correspondence, and other relevant materials. Monitor commitments and follow-up items arising from meetings and engagements and help ensure timely completion or delegation.
• Triage requests for the Senior Pastor’s time and attention, exercising sound judgment about urgency, importance, confidentiality, and appropriate routing.
• Serve as an effective gatekeeper while maintaining a welcoming and hospitable presence.
• Coordinate domestic and international travel arrangements, itineraries, accommodations, transportation, meeting schedules, and related logistics as needed.
• Maintain an organized system for tracking invitations, speaking engagements, appointments, deadlines, correspondence, and fo…