What does an associate pastor do?
An associate pastor is a church employee who assists the senior pastor with the church's daily operations. His/Her tasks include managing events for church ministries, supervising church volunteers, and assisting with all church services and ceremonies. The skills that an associate pastor should possess to fulfill his/her responsibilities include knowledge of community outreach and youth development and good public speaking skills. The education requirements to qualify for the position include obtaining a college degree in theology or pastoral counsel.
Associate pastor responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real associate pastor resumes:
- Manage and provide oversight for the administration of all ministry areas within the organization.
- Deliver messages base on the bible.
- Assist children's outreach including VBS and AWANA.
- Produce services through media development, PowerPoint, sound system, and print materials.
- Direct all children and youth ministries, including outreach, VBS, missions, and choirs.
- Implement a comprehensive prayer strategy.
- Develop and facilitate prayer ministry groups.
- Develop and organize Sunday PowerPoint presentations.
- Develop support opportunities for couples through social events/activities and discipleship classes.
- Design and train volunteers on topics ranging from hospitality to effective evangelism.
- Conduct community evangelism outreaches, counseling, visitation, and sermon delivery.
- Review purchases and spending trends to identify opportunities for better stewardship and discipleship.
- Create greater awareness of organizational challenges, including the need for transparent and visionary leadership.
- Major responsibilities include purchasing or developing curriculum, group leadership, volunteer recruitment and training.
- Develop deacons in fulfilling their respective leadership obligations.
Associate pastor skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Associate Pastors are proficient in Community Outreach, Pastoral Care, and Oversight.
We break down the percentage of Associate Pastors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Community Outreach, 20%
Coordinated community outreach events and Churches' media relations and advertising efforts.
- Pastoral Care, 12%
Provided pastoral care, including hospital visitation, officiating wedding ceremonies, and pastoral counseling.
- Oversight, 9%
Managed and provided oversight for the administration of all ministry areas within the organization.
- Youth Ministry, 5%
Supervised, coordinated, developed and supported organizations and youth ministry leaders.
- Youth Program, 4%
Developed and implemented a youth program that serviced up to 120 students and their families, utilizing adult volunteers as mentors.
- Public Speaking, 4%
Provide pastoral leadership involving public speaking, administration of sacramental and liturgical life, spiritual counseling, and education.
Most associate pastors use their skills in "community outreach," "pastoral care," and "oversight" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential associate pastor responsibilities here:
The three companies that hire the most associate pastors are:
- Educational Media Foundation1 associate pastors jobs
- Central Church1 associate pastors jobs
- First United Church of Christ
1 associate pastors jobs
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Compare different associate pastors
Associate pastor vs. Chaplain
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.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of an associate pastor are more likely to require skills like "community outreach," "oversight," "youth ministry," and "youth program." On the other hand, a job as a chaplain requires skills like "patients," "social work," "clinical pastoral," and "patient care." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Chaplains really shine in the health care industry with an average salary of $58,864. Comparatively, associate pastors tend to make the most money in the education industry with an average salary of $40,672.chaplains tend to reach higher levels of education than associate pastors. In fact, chaplains are 6.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.6% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Associate pastor vs. Rabbi
A Chaplain Resident provides emotional and spiritual care to patients, families, and staff. They help families and other groups of people to deal with issues of crisis, grief, death, and bereavement.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that associate pastor responsibilities requires skills like "oversight," "youth ministry," "youth program," and "public speaking." But a rabbi might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "life cycle events," "hillel," "adult education classes," and "spiritual support."
On average, rabbis earn a lower salary than associate pastors. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, rabbis earn the most pay in the education industry with an average salary of $36,824. Whereas associate pastors have higher pay in the education industry, with an average salary of $40,672.rabbis earn similar levels of education than associate pastors in general. They're 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate pastor vs. Worship leader
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from associate pastor resumes include skills like "community outreach," "oversight," "youth program," and "discipleship," whereas a worship leader is more likely to list skills in "bible studies," "set list," "sound equipment," and "leadership. "
Most worship leaders achieve a lower degree level compared to associate pastors. For example, they're 19.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Associate pastor vs. Chaplain resident
Even though a few skill sets overlap between associate pastors and chaplain residents, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, an associate pastor might have more use for skills like "community outreach," "oversight," "youth ministry," and "youth program." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of chaplain residents require skills like "patients," "clinical pastoral education," "residency," and "patient care. "
The average resume of chaplain residents showed that they earn higher levels of education compared to associate pastors. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 18.8% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.4%.Types of associate pastor
Updated January 8, 2025
