What does an assistant pastor do?
An Assistant Pastor is the primary support person for the Senior Pastor. They take important responsibilities within the church, such as overseeing key leaders and leading a ministry.
Assistant pastor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real assistant pastor resumes:
- Lead the development of a discipleship program that motivate and equip team leaders to lead evangelistic groups both locally and internationally.
- Implement PowerPoint for worship service.
- Operate lighting and PowerPoint during Sunday weekly service.
- Provide vision, direction, and oversight to the youth and outreach programs of the church.
- Assist with all aspects of services (prayer, communion, baptisms, child-dedications, and teaching) as needed.
- Assist in the supervision of executing tasks to prosecute the ministry of preaching, teaching and prayer in a congregational setting.
- Provide oversight to daily operational needs and management of facilities.
- Lead the development of a discipleship program that motivate and equip team leaders to lead evangelistic groups both locally and internationally.
- Develop deacons in fulfilling their respective leadership obligations.
Assistant pastor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 21% of Assistant Pastors are proficient in Community Outreach, Oversight, and Pastoral Care.
We break down the percentage of Assistant Pastors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Community Outreach, 21%
Trained and worked with volunteers in religious education and community outreach.
- Oversight, 8%
Maintained donations for local food pantry giving oversight of inventory in accordance with Federal regulations of National Food Bank standards.
- Pastoral Care, 8%
Guided Bible studies, preached sermons and did pastoral care (counseling, home-bound visitation, hospital visitation, etc.)
- Bible Study, 8%
Filled in for the Pastor in his absence for Bible Study, Sunday morning services, and other church related functions.
- Worship Services, 5%
Prepared liturgy, organized preachers for Wednesday evening worship services.
- Youth Ministry, 5%
Assist Pastor with Teaching and PreachingYouth Ministry DirectorBus Ministry DirectorHelped with Building and Grounds maintenance
Common skills that an assistant pastor uses to do their job include "community outreach," "oversight," and "pastoral care." You can find details on the most important assistant pastor responsibilities below.
The three companies that hire the most assistant pastors are:
- First United Church of Christ
1 assistant pastors jobs
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Compare different assistant pastors
Assistant pastor vs. Elder
The word chaplain is originally referred to as representatives of the Christian faith. In tradition, a chaplain is a cleric or formal leader with an established religion or any non-ordained members of religious institutes. Chaplains now are diverse in terms of faith and often serve various constituencies. Chaplains are professionally trained and certified to provide spiritual guidance in a clinical setting to individuals who has issues with meaning, hope, and transcendence or any specific life circumstances it may be. They offer reflective listening and non-judgmental emotional and inner comfort in various settings, including the military, parishes, hospitals, prisons, universities, and schools.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, assistant pastor responsibilities require skills like "oversight," "bible study," "youth ministry," and "public speaking." Meanwhile a typical elder has skills in areas such as "vital signs," "blood pressure," "caregiver," and "home maintenance." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
The education levels that elders earn slightly differ from assistant pastors. In particular, elders are 13.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than an assistant pastor. Additionally, they're 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant pastor vs. Rabbi
Each career also uses different skills, according to real assistant pastor resumes. While assistant pastor responsibilities can utilize skills like "oversight," "bible study," "youth ministry," and "public speaking," rabbis use skills like "life cycle events," "hillel," "adult education classes," and "spiritual support."
Rabbis earn a lower average salary than assistant pastors. But rabbis earn the highest pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $36,824. Additionally, assistant pastors earn the highest salaries in the education with average pay of $43,603 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Rabbis tend to reach similar levels of education than assistant pastors. In fact, they're 4.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant pastor vs. Worship leader
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, assistant pastors are more likely to have skills like "community outreach," "oversight," "bible study," and "worship services." But a worship leader is more likely to have skills like "bible studies," "set list," "sound equipment," and "leadership."
Worship leaders typically earn lower educational levels compared to assistant pastors. Specifically, they're 14.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Assistant pastor vs. Chaplain
Types of assistant pastor
Updated January 8, 2025
