Church Pastor Description

On my previous blog I stated that the first part of the semester I will be focusing more on the research aspect of my project. I also said that I would be looking into three specific types of jobs within the ministry. Today, I will be looking at statistics and job requirements of a pastor. I am a Southern Baptist so a majority of my statistics will be focused on pastors within that denomination. There are many misconceptions when it comes to what a pastor does, so I would like to clarify what exactly a pastor does in the 21st century.

Description

Pastors are very important to today's American society, and without them we would not be able to evolve spiritually nearly as well as we can with them. There are many responsibilities that a pastor is required to accomplish in his job. Learningpath.org defines the responsibilities of a pastor by saying the following:

"The primary duty of a pastor is to care for the spiritual well-being of his or her congregation. This can include performing religious rites, such as baptisms, confirmations and funerals. Pastors also counsel parish members in times of confusion and emotional distress"

There are also many behind the scene activities for pastors that nobody sees such as overseeing all of the church staff, providing training for growing ministers in their church, developing church policies, and in some churches the responsibility of budgeting falls on the pastor. These may seem very tedious and stressful, but knowing that you are making a difference can make it all worth it.

Salary

As I've said throughout my blog, and will probably say many times more, ministry is a very unique career path. The salaries for pastors have quite the large range and vary by many causes such as location, size of church, denomination, and experience level. According to salary.com the median annual salary of a pastor is about $89,101. Being the son of a pastor, I believe that this is entirely to high. This is probably due to the fact that it encompasses many different types of pastors not including the type I am interested in.

Salary Chart according to Salary.com

I feel that payscale.com has a much more realistic salary scale for a pastor. It states that the average salary for the pastor of a First Baptist Church is $51,134. This seems much more realistic than the previously stated $89,101. This is due to the fact that it is much more specific toward my specific career path.

Salary Chart according to payscale.com

How to Get the Job

According to http://work.chron.com/job-pastor-15735.html there are two major steps in getting a job: preparation and solicitation. This job is very different from most but the beginning stages have the same general steps as any other job. 

1. Preparation

• Step 1: Identify which specific area of ministry that you feel God is calling you to. The best way to determine this is by consistent prayer, studying, and finding what you are most passionate about and following that as a career choice. To relate this to me, this is the stage that I am currently in
• Step 2: Start serving and volunteering in every church or volunteer event possible. This will give you a chance to find the area of ministry you are most interested in, relating back to step one, and improve your resume.
• Step 3: Get an education in the field of ministry and go to a seminary that you feel called to. Internships in churches are also a great opportunity to better you knowledge and experience
• Step 4: Surround yourself with people that are already in the ministry to gain knowledge from people who have already gone through what you plan to, and to build connections when trying to gain a job.

1. Solicitation

• Step 1: Create the most extraordinary resume that man-kind has ever seen. The more experience and education that you can include, the better. This is where step 2 of preparation will come in handy.
• Step 2: Search though job finding websites (such as ChurchStaffing.com, ChurchJobFinder.com and MinistrySearch.com). Email prospective churches you are interested in and use friends in the ministry to find the job that is perfect for your talents and God's will.
• Step 3: Once you have determined a few churches that you feel specifically called to visit them and ask the church congregation why they are a part of the church and what makes it special.
• Step 4: Interview with the leaders of the church, typically the search team or elders of the church. If it is the right church for you, and you feel it is definitely the one you are being called to, I am confident that you will get the job.

Sources

1. Torres, Franco. "Becoming a Pastor: Careers, Salary Info & Job Description." Learning Path. Citlali Tolia, 2011. Web. 14 Feb. 2015. <http://learningpath.org/articles/Pastor_Career_Summary.html>. 
2.  Salary.com. "Pastor Salary." Salary.com. SimplyHired, 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <http://www1.salary.com/Pastor-Salary.html>.
3. Smith, Dave. "Senior Pastor Salary at First Baptist Church (United States)" Senior Pastor Salary (United States). PayScale, 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2015. <http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Senior_Pastor/Salary/ae1ebde3/First-Baptist-Church>.
4. Myles, Tony. "How to Get a Job as a Pastor." Work. Chron, 2015. Web. 13 Feb. 2015. <http://work.chron.com/job-pastor-15735.html>.