Seven Ways Pastors and Church Staff Find Jobs

This post may cause some of you to feel uneasy. I have to admit I’ve had some of those same feelings writing it. I prefer to think of pastoral ministry as a calling more than a job. And I sometimes cringe when I write about seemingly secular solutions to Christian work.

Nevertheless, over the life of this blog the past several years, I have received countless inquiries from men and women seeking positions in churches. Many are frustrated because they feel like their applications or resumes go into a digital black hole. They never even hear from many of the churches.

So I asked a number of pastors and church staff about the processes they experienced in getting a new position in a church. To be transparent, I need to explain that a church pursued some of them without any initiative on their part. The vast majority, however, took specific actions that ultimately led to their being called or hired.

My questions were conducted informally, but I still think the responses are telling. Here are the top seven responses in order of frequency.

  1. They used an informal network of persons to recommend them for the position. That network included friends in ministry, denominational workers, and church members at the specific church that had the opening.
  2. They made certain their resumes stood out. They accomplished this feat in three ways. First, they asked knowledgeable persons to help them shape the resumes, and to proofread them carefully. Second, they looked at other persons’ resumes to see what everyone else was doing, so they could do something unique. Third, they made certain the resume addressed very specifically the position they sought.
  3. They sought an influential person to recommend them. Because the person recommending the candidate was influential to the decision makers, the candidate was more likely to be given more serious consideration.
  4. They made certain that their reputations were good in the world of social media. One pastor shared with me that he has not been able to find another church because of his negative reputation on his blog and other social media. More and more churches are doing a social media search on a candidate before ever contacting him or her.
  5. They actively monitored sites that provide job postings. Denominational groups offer some of the sites. Others are independent, and include ministry search firms.
  6. They asked for help from their denomination or seminary. These entities are not as active in ministry placement as previous years; but they still can be very helpful to a candidate.
  7. They were persistent. One candidate told me she had her application in over 20 churches before she ever heard from anyone. She persisted by submitting a resume to a different church for a position almost once a week. That determination finally resulted in a great position in a church.

Some of the pastors and staff I contacted were appointed to their positions by a denominational authority, so their process differed from the seven items I note above. Let me hear your responses to these seven approaches. If you feel comfortable, share with us how you got your current position.

photo credit: photologue_np via photopin cc

Posted on January 12, 2015


With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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114 Comments

  • T.B. JOSHUA says on

    “When DISCOURAGEMENT comes, DON’T STOP; DIG DEEP and FIGHT it through!
    We fight through our FEARS and FAILURES by MAXIMIZING our FORWARD MOTION.”
    How are you doing and how is life treating you? I hope all is well and working on well for you in the Lord?
    Do you have any prayer intention, do you need me to stand in the gap for you? Send me your prayer request here via [email protected]
    Have a nice day and get back to me soon. The best is yet to come you
    ain’t seen nothing yet. Be blessed in the Lord!

    T.B. JOSHUA

  • Can’t find a church position, then start your own ministry or church? Sometimes that works better, because churches a lot of time are already set in their own ways and are too picky while focusing on all their man made requirements.

    • Joe O Ramos says on

      Why don’t you start a Bible study with 3 or 4 friends maybe 2-3 times a month. You can begin by building a Bible study. And if you are good at building a Bible study with 3 or 4 people you can grow it to 6 or 7 people to eventually 12 people. You can then grow it till you get to 30 people and build your own church.

      You will be the leader and build your own leaders. If you can not build a Bible study, you can not build a church….

  • A couple of thoughts

    1. I have been looking since I graduated from seminary back in 2010 – so I am going on 5 years with no success – that would discourage most people

    2 If the people who do know you won’t hire/call you – then how can we expect people who do not know us to hire or call us.

    3 Yes it is tough when you send a resume and never hear from a church or find out that you are one among hundreds

    4 If churches would mentor and train their own young men – then they could “hire from within” so to speak and negate the need to look outside. Why not hire someone who knows the people because they have been faithful and have proven themselves over the years.

    5 unfortunately nepotism and politics still exist and they will in a fallen world – it is sad that good people lose out due to these factors

    • Joe O Ramos says on

      “I have been looking since I graduated from seminary back in 2010 – so I am going on 5 years with no success – that would discourage most people…”

      How are you surviving? Are you working in the secular world> Why don’t you start a Bible study with 3 or 4 friends maybe 2-3 times a month. You can begin by building a Bible study. And if you are good at building a Bible study with 3 or 4 people you can grow it to 6 or 7 people to eventually 12 people. You can then grow it till you get to 30 people and build your own church.

      You will be the leader and build your own leaders. If you can not build a Bible study, you can not build a church….

  • Ken you seem to have a great spirit about you! God’s blessings.

  • WOW comes to mind. I must say as I was reading down through the post, I expected to see perhaps some hint of “God’s” servants exercise spiritual senses. I stand in awe at the condition of what is professed to be Jesus’ church. I am completely aware that the American church culture is corrupted by the social influence such as conducting earthly business instead of God’s business but this measurement blew me away. I totally agree with opening statements of this blog regarding the polar difference from a calling and a career. Wake up people. Trust God. Call on Him. My personal experience is the contrary from such testimonies. Pastoring a church was never on my list of things to do. While standing in my driveway in East Texas, God spoke to my heart, telling me to travel to Michigan to pastor a church. I told my wife and we made arrangements to go by faith. After all is that not what God requires of us. Without it we cannot please Him. At the same time the pastor of a church for over 30 years was terminally ill with cancer and began praying for the next pastor. THREE years later I became the pastor of that particular church through even several more divine acts of guidance. My word people read your Bibles and pray. BTW God’s timing is not our own. Consider all biblical record. Thanks. E to God to cover even our stupidity.

  • I can relate to the frustrations of many graduates seeking a place to minister. I have found the same thing as many others have, that churches have ridiculous requirements for their potential staff. When a church of 10-15 wants a M.Div., 10 years experience, ect., it just shows me how far removed we, as American Christians, are from seeking God’s direction rather than our own. Not that education and experience are a bad thing, but when it becomes the focus, we’ve missed it. And, after being a bivocaitonal pastor of a well established church (and still there), I’m finding that I’ve got to look outside the box if I’m going to be part of the solution. I could get comfortable where I am, or I can break through the barriers and seek to find some answers. I believe that solution is found in building church planting churches. It has been the solution on my heart for almost a decade now, to see God build a ministry where graduates (or those seeking experience) can find a place to train for the ministry and get a foot in the door before being sent out to either church planting or established churches for revitalization. The truth is, many are not as blessed as I have been to have been lead to a church who (in the eyes of the world) took a chance on the young guy. And my heart goes out to all those who are truly called by God, but can’t get responses from any churches because they have become so secular in their thinking. We, as pastors already in the ministry, need to work together to find ways to get the next generation trained and out serving.

  • I was out of seminary for two years before I was called to my first church. The long wait was frustrating and discouraging, but in retrospect I realized God’s timing is always perfect. During those two years I worked in retail, which was great training for the pastorate!