Last Updated: March 3rd, 2022 by
Society relies on its leaders to stay strong, including religious leaders like pastors. By working as a pastor, you’ll lead your community members not only spiritually but also emotionally and socially.
In this guide, you’ll discover how to become a pastor. Firstly, you’ll understand what’s required to become a pastor. Then, you’ll also discover salary information and top specializations to choose from.
Visit our Career Guide for a list of all our job insights for an in depth look at the new career path you are considering.
Job Description
As a pastor, your primary responsibility is to provide spiritual leadership to your church members. You’ll prepare and deliver sermons to your churchgoers while also continuing to study the Bible yourself.
Besides regular church services, you will also conduct other religious activities. For example, you’ll officiate weddings and funerals and perform baptisms and other ceremonies when they’re needed.
Your leadership will also include providing pastoral care to those who need it. That will involve providing spiritual, emotional, and social support to community members who might be struggling.
A degree in divinity studies or similar is a typical minimum requirement to become a pastor. However, you’ll also benefit from furthering your studies to the master’s and doctoral levels.
What Does an Average Day for a Pastor Look Like?
The best way to learn how to become a pastor and whether or not you’d enjoy it is to know what an average day looks like.
Here are the typical activities you’ll carry out on an average day working as a pastor:
Meet With Church and Community Members
One of your daily tasks as a pastor is meeting with people and building relationships.
For starters, you’ll meet members of your congregation all throughout the day. That will happen whether you’re inside the church or outside, seeing as how most of them will likely be members of the same community as well.
Beyond that, pastors like you will also do the same with other community members, particularly those that aren’t part of the church.
By interacting with people often, you will strengthen the relationship between your church and the community. Not only will that benefit people spiritually, but it’ll also improve social conditions that affect the community as a whole.
Conduct a Service
As a pastor, you’ll also conduct and lead a church service for your congregation.
Church services typically happen on Sundays. However, your church might also have services on other days throughout the week.
Depending on your background and the church’s community, you might also lead bilingual worship or additional services in other languages like Spanish.
Provide Pastoral Care
Community members view pastors as being more than just spiritual leaders. So, you’ll likely spend a part of your day meeting with people to provide social, emotional, and spiritual support.
These people might meet you in your office, though it’s also common for pastors to visit sick people at their homes or the hospital instead.
Officiate Weddings
When people choose to have religious weddings, they’ll need the services of a marriage officiant. As a pastor, you’ll be responsible for officiating all weddings at your church.
Depending on your community’s size, you might only officiate weddings occasionally. Though, you’ll probably do it more often in larger communities.
Perform Funerals and Other Religious Ceremonies
Besides preaching, your average day will also include performing other religious ceremonies like funerals, baptisms, and others.
For example, you will have to direct and lead an entire funeral that includes delivering a speech and prayer by the graveside.
Oversee Pastoral Staff
Last but not least, you’ll also spend time leading the pastoral staff that keeps the church running.
As a pastor in a church, you’re also a manager in any other organization. That means you’ll hire, fire, train, and motivate the people who help you run the church for the congregation’s benefit.
You must take time to oversee your staff so that they’re all operating at their best. Together, you’ll have a team that can deliver the best support for everyone who visits your church.
Process for Becoming a Pastor
The process of learning how to become a pastor and getting ordained as one can differ slightly depending on your church and denomination.
Still, here are the general steps you’ll go through in your process of becoming a pastor:
1. Get a Bachelor’s Degree
Most churches will require you to have at least a bachelor’s degree to become a pastor. But, again, the requirements for education or anything else will differ between churches and denominations.
Still, people pursuing this career path typically take a college degree in divinity, theology, ministry, or something similar.
Some of the courses you’ll take during your degree include:
- Theology
- Philosophy
- Old and New Testament studies
- Languages like Greek, Latin, and Hebrew
- And many other courses relevant to being a pastor
But remember: your future responsibilities also include providing leadership and counseling. So, taking additional psychology, leadership, education, and training courses will also benefit your journey to become a pastor.
2. Gain Experience
Before, during, or after your college studies, you’ll also want to gain hands-on experience with the church.
You can do this by volunteering your time and energy or taking on paid part-time roles. Doing that helps you become familiar with how the church functions. It’ll also allow you to become familiar with members of the congregation.
More importantly, you can also share your pastoral ambitions with your church. That could open you up to other opportunities, like working alongside an ordained pastor and building your experience further.
3. Seek Mentorship
In this line of work, one of the most important ways to learn how to become a pastor is by seeking mentorship. Therefore, it’s best to speak to the pastor in your church so you can learn from them.
For example, a mentor could allow you to shadow them and see firsthand what an average day in their lives is like.
More importantly, you can gain insider knowledge by asking them questions like:
- What challenges you should expect when working as a pastor
- How to manage unique challenges as a pastor
- How to engage and lead members of the congregation more effectively
While your college studies are undoubtedly crucial in helping you become a pastor, you’ll also find plenty of value from learning through mentors and other church members.
4. Further Your Studies
A bachelor’s degree is often the minimum education requirement to become a pastor. However, you will also benefit significantly by pursuing higher levels of education, like a master’s degree or even a doctorate.
The process of getting those degrees will require plenty of devotion, reflection, and deep study on your part.
As a result, your understanding of the religion and its teachings will also be much deeper than many other candidates pursuing the same pastoral roles as you.
Firstly, that will benefit your daily responsibilities by becoming a more knowledgeable pastor. But besides that, it will also equip you to take on teaching roles.
For example, you could teach students about the church and its beliefs in academic settings.
5. Become Ordained Through Your Church
The final step in your journey to becoming a pastor is to be ordained. You can do so by working closely with your church, which should be familiar with you at this point.
Like many other parts of this process, the ordination stage will depend on your church and denomination.
Generally, you’ll go through steps where the church will:
- Evaluate you to ensure that you’re qualified and have the necessary qualities to become a pastor.
- Put you through a candidacy period, where you assist ordained pastors with their duties.
- Have you go through a mentorship program with an ordained pastor.
- Finally, they’ll ordain you as a pastor.
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Are You Suited for a Pastor Career? Skills, Credentials, Tools, and Technology
Learning how to become a pastor will undoubtedly require a lot of religious knowledge. However, there are also other personality traits, skills, and proficiencies you’ll need to succeed.
Here are some of them you must have or be willing to develop in your career as a pastor:
Personality and Skills
The Occupational Information Network (O*Net) lists speaking, active listening, and service orientation as crucial skills and personality traits for this line of work.
Speaking abilities matter because that’s how you’ll deliver most of your spiritual guidance and advice.
Throughout your career as a pastor, you’ll engage in two forms of speaking:
- Speaking to individuals to provide one-on-one guidance and advice.
- Public speaking to large groups, which you’ll do in church or elsewhere, as you preach your message.
Mastering both forms of speaking will help people understand you much better and make you a more effective pastor in the long run.
Active listening allows you to listen and understand people’s unique needs and concerns. Only then can you give them the correct advice that they’ll find helpful.
Regardless of how you do it, your overall purpose is to serve others. So, you must have a strong service orientation that guides everything you do for the benefit of others.
Credentials and Proficiencies
O*Net also highlights that proficiencies in philosophy, theology, and education and training are also essential to succeed as a pastor.
As a pastor, you must understand the philosophies that guide how people live their lives. That way, you’ll understand the ways people think, so you can tailor your guidance more accurately.
Of course, being exceptionally proficient in theology also matters greatly. That will ensure that you always deliver the correct message to your congregation, as it was intended.
The 4 types of theology that pastors should be proficient in are:
- Historical theology, where you explore the origin of Christian beliefs and how they’ve developed over time.
- Biblical theology, where you’ll explore individual authors and books of the bible.
- Systematic theology, where you’ll summarize the different traditions of the religion.
- Practical theology, where you’ll seek to understand the different religious practices and how they can be improved.
Lastly, always remember that your guidance is a form of education and training. So, understanding effective teaching methods will allow your congregation to understand and remember your teachings much better.
How Does a Pastor Find Work?
Ordained pastors work in churches and a wide range of other environments. For instance, you’ll find pastors in the military, schools, and at all kinds of medical facilities.
After learning how to become a pastor, the best way to find work as a pastor is to look for job openings at places that hire pastors the most.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) finds that the organizations hiring the most pastors are:
- Religious organizations
- Hospitals
- Nursing homes
- Home Health Care companies
- Elementary and secondary schools
Look for these organizations in your local area or wherever you intend to work as a pastor.
Then, you can find work by:
- Checking their official websites, particularly the ‘job openings’ or ‘career’ pages.
- Calling them directly and asking to speak to the Human Resources department.
- Walking in and asking about pastor job openings.
Remember: even if there are no current job openings for pastors, there will likely be openings in the future. So, be sure to submit your resume or CV for the organization to keep.
That way, they’ll have all your details on file and can contact you directly when they’re searching for future job candidates.
What Is the Average Salary of a Pastor?
Another useful indicator to decide if learning how to become a pastor is worth your time and effort. The BLS also states that the average salary for clergy (including pastors) is $56,560 a year.
The BLS also breaks down that average salary into more detail, showing that:
- The top 90th percentile earn $89,510 a year, and
- The bottom 10th percentile earns $28,410 a year.
Where Do Pastors Earn the Most?
Pastors can earn more in some states than others. Data by the BLS also shows that these are the 5 highest-paying states for clergy (including pastors):
- District of Columbia: $73,920 a year.
- California: $72,760 a year.
- Washington: $64,910 a year.
- Delaware: $64,440 a year.
- Massachusetts: $62,920 a year.
How Can Pastors Earn More?
As a pastor, you can increase your earning potential by developing one or more specializations.
When you have specialized skills, you’ll set yourself apart from your peers in the industry. Besides that, you’ll also give yourself more negotiating power when discussing your contract with potential employers.
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Pastor Job Outlook
The Occupational Information Network (O*Net) highlights that the clergy job market (including pastors) will grow at 1%-5% between 2020 and 2030. However, they describe that rate as being ‘slower than average.’
Still, positive job growth is an excellent sign for you or anyone else interested in learning how to become a pastor.
Top 5 Specializations For Pastors for 2022
When you work as a pastor, you’ll serve as both a spiritual and community leader. So, there is a wide range of specializations that you can develop.
Here are 5 examples of the areas you can choose to focus on in your career:
Preaching
This specialization will be perfect if you have a passion for communication. Your goal here is to explore creative ways to communicate the gospel, either in spoken or written form.
Community Development
By specializing in community development, your focus will be on how your church can help improve the lives of the people around it. That will include promoting social order and justice, among other positive social changes.
Pastoral Care
Here, you’ll develop strengths in providing not just spiritual support but also emotional and social. For example, pastors working in the military or medical fields will also act as emotional pillars that people can rely on during the most challenging times of their lives.
Bible and Theology
Suppose you have a knack for theological debates and helping apply the bible’s lessons to today’s world. In that case, you can also choose to specialize in this area.
Leadership and Ministry
Remember: a pastor is a leader not just in spiritual matters but also in other areas of life. Therefore, you can choose to specialize and develop your leadership skills, providing coaching and guidance in that area.
Professional Associations
Mentorship and networking are crucial for learning how to become a pastor and internalizing those lessons. As a pastor, you can do so by joining professional associations like:
National Association of Christian Ministers
Association of Professional Chaplains
International Ministerial Association
National Association for Lay Ministry
National Association of Evangelicals
Top Colleges and Universities
You can strengthen your journey of learning how to become a pastor by signing up for top divinity schools like:
Princeton Theological Seminary