Associate ministers can also be called assistant ministers. Associate ministers, from their title, primarily assist and help the lead pastor with the church. As an associate minister, your task could vary depending on the church. You may have regular duties assigned to you or serve in whatever capacity you need to fill in the church.
As an associate minister, you will serve as the other preacher for the church when the lead minister is absent. In addition, you may be saddled with the responsibility of visiting church members and contacting them outside of the church setting. This visitation comes in handy when they are in the hospital or for follow-up. You will also help as regards administrative duties for the church, such as supervision of building.
Representing the church in the community by serving on charitable committees is also one of your duties. Usually, associate ministers study biblical studies or theology, and they make an average of $19.01 per hour.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an Associate Minister. For example, did you know that they make an average of $20.66 an hour? That's $42,978 a year!
When it comes to the most important skills required to be an Associate Minister, we found that a lot of resumes listed 14.4% of Associate Ministers included Community Outreach, while 10.2% of resumes included Small Groups, and 9.6% of resumes included Clinical Pastoral. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
If you're interested in becoming an Associate Minister, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 53.5% of Associate Ministers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 27.8% of Associate Ministers have master's degrees. Even though most Associate Ministers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become an Associate Minister. When we researched the most common majors for an Associate Minister, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Master's Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Associate Minister resumes include Associate Degree degrees or Doctoral Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become an Associate Minister. In fact, many Associate Minister jobs require experience in a role such as Internship. Meanwhile, many Associate Ministers also have previous career experience in roles such as Chaplain or Minister.