Ordained minister vs chaplain

The differences between ordained ministers and chaplains can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an ordained minister and a chaplain. Additionally, an ordained minister has an average salary of $48,558, which is higher than the $46,392 average annual salary of a chaplain.

The top three skills for an ordained minister include pastoral care, public speaking and GOD. The most important skills for a chaplain are patients, social work, and clinical pastoral.

Ordained minister vs chaplain overview

	Ordained Minister	Chaplain
Yearly salary	$48,558	$46,392
Hourly rate	$23.35	$22.30
Growth rate	-	-
Number of jobs	103	2,600
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Average age	51	51
Years of experience	4	4

Ordained minister vs chaplain salary

Ordained ministers and chaplains have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Ordained Minister	Chaplain
Average salary	$48,558	$46,392
Salary range	Between $25,000 And $91,000	Between $25,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City	-	San Jose, CA
Highest paying state	-	California
Best paying company	-	UofL Hospital
Best paying industry	-	Health Care

Differences between ordained minister and chaplain education

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

	Ordained Minister	Chaplain
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 47%	Bachelor's Degree, 48%
Most common major	Theology	Theology
Most common college	Northwestern University	Emory University

Ordained minister vs chaplain demographics

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

	Ordained Minister	Chaplain
Average age	51	51
Gender ratio	Male, 60.4% Female, 39.6%	Male, 68.3% Female, 31.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 12.5% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 5.2% White, 68.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black 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%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between ordained minister and chaplain duties and responsibilities

Ordained minister example responsibilities.

Lead church to incorporate a vision for integrating evangelistic and discipleship efforts.
Supervise the administrative staff and day-to-day operations of a 1200-member, three campus organization to include business development and programmatic oversight.
Supervise the administrative staff and day-to-day operations of a 1200-member, three campus organization to include business development and programmatic oversight.

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.

Ordained minister vs chaplain skills

Common ordained minister skills

Pastoral Care, 48%
Public Speaking, 21%
GOD, 11%
Memorial Services, 7%
Spiritual Guidance, 7%
PowerPoint, 6%

Common chaplain skills

Patients, 21%
Social Work, 11%
Clinical Pastoral, 10%
Spiritual Care, 8%
Pastoral Care, 7%
Patient Care, 5%