3 Pastor Resume Samples and Writing Tips

Pastor Resume Template (Text Format)

Format your resume using this template to present your qualifications effectively.

Copy-and-Paste Pastor Resume Template

FIRST AND LAST NAME

Email: your.email@email.com

Phone: (123) 456-7891

Address: Street, City, State

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yourprofile

RESUME SUMMARY

Compassionate spiritual leader with [number] years of experience. Seeking to leverage my experience in [relevant abilities] to fill the [Pastor/Title] position. Hold a [degree/diploma/certification] in [Degree/Diploma/Certification Title]. Skilled at [2–3 relevant skills]. A [adjective #1] and [adjective #2] church leader aiming to contribute to the success of [Church Name] and the spiritual empowerment of its congregation.

RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

Current Job Title (e.g., Pastor)Church Name, City, State | Month 20XX–Present

• Include a bulleted list of your achievements as a pastor
• Start each bullet point with an action verb (like “spearhead” or “coordinate”) to grab attention
• Use the present tense for your current pastor role, unless describing a completed project or initiative
• Use hard numbers when possible to quantify your accomplishments as a pastor
• Mention how you’ve used some of the skills listed in your skills section to demonstrate your mastery of these abilities

Previous Job Title (e.g., Youth Pastor)Church Name, City, State | Month 20XX–Month 20XX

• List relevant accomplishments from your previous role as a youth pastor
• Assuming you’re no longer working in this pastor role, use past tense verbs to describe your work
• Include 3–6 bullet points for each church role, both your current one and previous ones
• Skip the pronoun “I” and begin directly with a verb
• Although you’ll usually list work experience, feel free to include volunteer work and extracurricular activities if you lack formal work experience with your church

EDUCATION

Degree Name / MajorUniversity, City, State | Graduation Month, Year

• GPA: 3.X/4.0 (optional)
• Latin honors (if applicable)

SKILLS & CERTIFICATIONS

• List skills and certifications relevant to the pastor job you’re applying for
• Look at the job description for ideas of the skills the employer wants and that are common for leadership positions in your church
• Emphasize hard skills and technical skills in this section

OPTIONAL RESUME SECTIONS

• Add any other relevant information about your background here
• For example, a separate section could be used to highlight any of the following information: church-related awards, publications, or coursework, as well as languages and volunteer experience

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Whether you’re starting out on your path as a pastor or you’re applying for a leadership position in your church, we have the right example for you below.

Assistant pastor resume

If you’re being called to the Church, you might be applying for a no experience or assistant pastor job. Here’s how your resume should look to make churches want to learn more about you and your ability to support a congregation:

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Associate pastor resume highlights

• Relevant hobbies and interests: If you’re including a hobbies and interests section on your resume, make sure the hobbies you list show your fit for the pastor role you’re seeking. For example, this candidate lists current affairs, homeless outreach, and volunteering.
• Volunteer experience: Any volunteer roles you’ve held show your zeal for empowering other followers. So list your church-related volunteer work, even if you have formal work experience in the Church.

Senior pastor resume

You’ve served the Church for years, tending to your flock and increasing its numbers. So highlight your achievements on your lead pastor resume as this example does:

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Lead pastor resume highlights

• Professional development: Show the Church you’ve kept ahead of the lastest theological developments by adding a professional development section to your resume. Then, add any certificates you’ve recently received to it.
• Quantify your achievements: Your church will be interested in the impact you’ve had as a leader. So include numbers on your resume (called quantifying your resume achievements). For example, this candidate uses hard numbers to show the number of people supervised, the increase in participation, and the growth in donations to the Church.

Average pastor salaries in the US

The following table includes information from O*NET Resource Center by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. The data is presented based on the top states in the United States.

How to write a pastor resume

If you’d like more guidance on writing your pastor resume, follow these four writing tips.

1. Summarize your experience, goals, and skills in your objective

A good resume objective summarizes the spirit of your resume in 3–5 sentences. The idea is to make hiring managers want to learn more about you so they look at the rest of your resume and call you in for an interview.

While you may need to tailor your objective for the specific church you’re applying to, here are three resume opener examples for you to get inspiration from:

2. Highlight your educational focus

Churches will be very interested in your theological focus and the relevant coursework on your resume as it will indicate the direction of your sermons. To show you’re theologically in alignment with the church you’re applying for, try writing a fleshed-out education section like this:

3. Quantify your achievements as a pastor

Churches will be impressed by numbers because they show what you can achieve for them, so add them to as many of your resume bullet points as you can (this is called quantifying your resume bullet points).

You should focus on the outcomes your church is focused on, so you might want to talk about:

• Increases in donations
• Congregation growth
• Social media follower numbers
• Baptisms performed
• New followers welcomed
• Mission trips led/supported
• Volunteer engagement
• Outreach events

And here are five strong bullet points with numbers added to them:

4. Highlight your volunteer experience

Even if you’re a full-time employee of a church, you’ll want to highlight your volunteer experience to show you put in extra time to spread the message of the Gospels far and wide.

So it’s worth including volunteer work in your work experience section, or even including a separate volunteer work section to put the spotlight on the effort you put in to spread Jesus’s word in your free time:

Here’s an example of volunteer work on a pastor resume for you to base yours on:

Resume examples for different industries

Not sure what your resume should look like? The best way to learn is by taking inspiration from resume examples written by other candidates in your industry.

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