Pastoral Jobs

When searching for a job in the ministry one must deal with some realities. With attendance down in mainline Protestant churches and older ministers delaying retirement, many recent seminary graduates are finding that pastoral jobs are scarce, according to a Religion News Service story published in September. Pulpit committees, they discover, are often insensitive, priority is usually given to men, and they report scant denominational assistance in finding preaching-pastoral jobs. Only 4,000 to 5,000 a year have found pastoral jobs; others have taken their degrees into different occupations.

Ministry Expectations

While people and relationships are important components of business leaders' jobs, pastoral jobs involve interacting with a particularly wide variety of people in intensive, emotionally demanding situations. These situations require pastors to switch between casual, trivial interactions to crucial, tragic interactions quickly and frequently throughout their days.

Pastors Qualifications

Most church denominations qualifications for pastoral jobs include: Master of divinity/theology or equivalent combination of education and experience. Some also want to see a formalized theological education leading to ecclesiastical endorsement for ministry; four units of clinical pastoral education, Association of Clinical Pastoral Education; certification by NACC or ACPE and an ecclesiastical endorsement from the bishop of the diocese and/or religious superior of their particular denomination.

From the beginning of Christianity, leadership has been critical to the growth and health of the church and its ability to spread its message and live out its beliefs in the world. Pastors can take comfort in and accept the challenge that even if they make mistakes and the outcome is not what they desire, their learning is far from over.