What does a minister do?
Minister responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real minister resumes:
- Lead the community in a Eucharistic prayer service, providing theological reflection every Monday and throughout the summer.
- Lead church to incorporate a vision for integrating evangelistic and discipleship efforts.
- Introduce young people to Christ; disciple them in spiritual growth; train them in serving Christ with their life.
- Conduct other teaching assignments and conduct gospel meetings.
- Serve as overseer of all ministries and mission assignments.
- Promote understanding of the gospel by working with church members.
- Plan and organize summer programs including VBS, summer camp, and special events.
- Work weekly with a team of musicians to plan, practice, and disciple together.
- Increase technological efficiency by training staff on appropriate software, computer, and A/V equipment.
- Help with anything else they need help with like VBS skits and acting in/planning Christmas musical.
- Orate daily, morning and evening services with opening prayer and song, direct music for corporate worship.
- Include all duties including preaching, teaching both adult and children's classes, home visits, outreach and evangelism
- Develop structure flow of worship service to best fit needs of congregation and put together corresponding PowerPoint for service.
- Serve as worship leader, bible study instructor, and assistant to the pastor at a newly organize church.
- Create a digital presence for the church through a website and social media accounts, focusing heavily on Facebook.
Minister skills and personality traits
We calculated that 15% of Ministers are proficient in Community Outreach, Pastoral Care, and Bible Studies.
We break down the percentage of Ministers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Community Outreach, 15%
Organized community outreach activities as well as planned and executed advertising campaign.
- Pastoral Care, 12%
Participated in ministerial tasks including worship leadership and some pastoral care.
- Bible Studies, 8%
Worked with three other peer ministers in running a campus ministry-Planned social and service activities-Organized weekly bible studies and small groups
- Student Ministry, 8%
Recruited volunteer members primarily for the student ministry and for special community events.
- Public Speaking, 6%
Conducted public speaking events, membership visitation and personal development.
- Oversight, 4%
Supervised the administrative staff and day-to-day operations of a 1200-member, three campus organization to include business development and programmatic oversight.
Common skills that a minister uses to do their job include "community outreach," "pastoral care," and "bible studies." You can find details on the most important minister responsibilities below.
The three companies that hire the most ministers are:
- International Friendships17 ministers jobs
- Hospital Sisters Health System3 ministers jobs
- Riverside Church2 ministers jobs
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Compare different ministers
Minister vs. Rabbi
A Hospice Chaplain provides care and comfort to patients nearing the end of life because of terminal illnesses. They collaborate with the community and the care team to ensure that care is in accord with the patient's faith.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between ministers and rabbi. For instance, minister responsibilities require skills such as "bible studies," "student ministry," "public speaking," and "oversight." Whereas a rabbi is skilled in "life cycle events," "hillel," "adult education classes," and "community building." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Rabbis tend to make the most money working in the education industry, where they earn an average salary of $36,824. In contrast, ministers make the biggest average salary, $31,769, in the non profits industry.On average, rabbis reach similar levels of education than ministers. Rabbis are 4.6% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 1.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Minister vs. Hospital 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.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real minister resumes. While minister responsibilities can utilize skills like "community outreach," "bible studies," "student ministry," and "public speaking," hospital chaplains use skills like "patients," "clinical pastoral," "patient care," and "crisis intervention."
In general, hospital chaplains achieve higher levels of education than ministers. They're 15.1% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for ministers in the next 3-5 years?
Dr. Christopher Foster
Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Graduate School of Theology and, Oral Roberts University
Despite the technological tools, with all the bells and whistles, technology must remain relational and dialogical.
Minister vs. Hospice chaplain
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, ministers are more likely to have skills like "bible studies," "student ministry," "public speaking," and "oversight." But a hospice chaplain is more likely to have skills like "patients," "home health," "clinical pastoral," and "patient care."
Most hospice chaplains achieve a higher degree level compared to ministers. For example, they're 17.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 3.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Minister vs. Chaplain
Even though a few skill sets overlap between ministers and chaplains, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a minister might have more use for skills like "community outreach," "bible studies," "student ministry," and "public speaking." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of chaplains require skills like "patients," "social work," "clinical pastoral," and "patient care. "
In general, chaplains earn the most working in the health care industry, with an average salary of $58,864. The highest-paying industry for a minister is the non profits industry.In general, chaplains hold higher degree levels compared to ministers. Chaplains are 11.8% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 2.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of minister
Updated January 8, 2025
