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Chaplain vs youth minister

The differences between chaplains and youth ministers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a chaplain and a youth minister. Additionally, a chaplain has an average salary of $46,392, which is higher than the $41,513 average annual salary of a youth minister.

The top three skills for a chaplain include patients, social work and clinical pastoral. The most important skills for a youth minister are community outreach, bible studies, and youth events.

Chaplain vs youth minister overview

ChaplainYouth Minister
Yearly salary$46,392$41,513
Hourly rate$22.30$19.96
Growth rate--
Number of jobs2,6002,830
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age5151
Years of experience44

What does a chaplain do?

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.

What does a youth minister do?

A Youth Minister encourages young people to learn more about a given faith and to become more involved in spiritual life. They may be responsible for planning activities and leading Bible studies.

Chaplain vs youth minister salary

Chaplains and youth ministers have different pay scales, as shown below.

ChaplainYouth Minister
Average salary$46,392$41,513
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $83,000Between $31,000 And $54,000
Highest paying CitySan Jose, CA-
Highest paying stateCalifornia-
Best paying companyUofL Hospital-
Best paying industryHealth Care-

Differences between chaplain and youth minister education

There are a few differences between a chaplain and a youth minister in terms of educational background:

ChaplainYouth Minister
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 48%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorTheologyTheology
Most common collegeEmory UniversityEmory University

Chaplain vs youth minister demographics

Here are the differences between chaplains' and youth ministers' demographics:

ChaplainYouth Minister
Average age5151
Gender ratioMale, 68.3% Female, 31.7%Male, 71.6% Female, 28.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.8% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 6.6% White, 68.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 6.6% White, 68.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between chaplain and youth minister duties and responsibilities

Chaplain example responsibilities.

  • Provide full pastoral ministry, visitation and counseling to inmates and incarcerate patients.
  • Participate as members of a psychiatric or rehabilitation team in staff conferences concerning patients and inmates.
  • Perform functions in field and combat environments, combat lifesaver tasks and apply communication skills in crisis/potential suicide intervention.
  • Visit patients/families identify as appropriate for pastoral services and provide direct spiritual counseling, prayer, and ministry as appropriate.
  • Certify in ASIST (suicideprevention )
  • Participate in bi-weekly IDG meetings as part of IDG team.
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Youth minister example responsibilities.

  • Lead church to incorporate a vision for integrating evangelistic and discipleship efforts.
  • Prepare presentations for youth group members by using PowerPoint.
  • Maintain Facebook page and website dedicate to the youth group through updating information weekly on upcoming news and event information.
  • Provide mentoring to student leaders through direct discipleship.
  • Collaborate with pastoral team to provide professional leadership to a variety of congregation's ministry areas.
  • Perform other various functions as needed including communication with church leadership to ensure efficient operations for church outreach activities.
  • Show more

Chaplain vs youth minister skills

Common chaplain skills
  • Patients, 21%
  • Social Work, 11%
  • Clinical Pastoral, 10%
  • Spiritual Care, 8%
  • Pastoral Care, 7%
  • Patient Care, 5%
Common youth minister skills
  • Community Outreach, 19%
  • Bible Studies, 13%
  • Youth Events, 5%
  • Public Speaking, 5%
  • Event Planning, 5%
  • Worship Services, 4%

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