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Not many people realize that being a pastor involves much more than just preaching. Writing a 30-minute sermon could take up to 10 hours. Besides, there are administrative tasks, meetings, visits, fundraising, and other, sometimes quite surprising responsibilities. On top of that, there is a need for impeccable communication skills and great charisma.

Good news is, that’s already a solid foundation for a spellbinding pastor resume. All you need to do is arrange things properly and follow some resume-writing rules. 

This guide will show you: 

  • A pastor resume example better than 9 out of 10 other resumes.
  • How to write a pastor resume that will land you more interviews.
  • Tips and examples of how to put skills and achievements on a pastor resume.
  • How to describe your experience on a resume for a pastor to get any job you want.

Want to save time and have your resume ready in 5 minutes? Try our resume builder. It’s fast and easy to use. Plus, you’ll get ready-made content to add with one click. See 20+ resume templates and create your resume here.

Create your resume now

Sample Pastor Resume—See more resume examples here.

Trying to show pastor on a resume? See our guide:

Achievements in a Resume, Awards & Key Accomplishments

Not sure a resume for pastor jobs is your best path? See our other guides:

Pastor Resume Template

Judith Menezes, Pastor

judith.q.menezes@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/judithqmenezes

617-798-6360

Professional Summary

Inspiring non-denominational Christian pastor with 7+ years of experience, skilled in preaching and relationship-building. Seeking to grow and guide the congregation of the Shine Grace Ministry. At the Faith Ascension Church, grew congregation size by 30% through concentrated outreach. Increased in-service donations 26% with better sermons and direct calls-to-action around pressing community needs.

Work Experience

Pastor

Faith Ascension Church

June 2013–May 2019

  • Served as head pastor in a Christian church with a congregation of 150+ parishioners.
  • Grew congregation from 120 to 156 parishioners with directed outreach to local non-churchgoing Christians via word-of-mouth, email, and print campaigns.
  • Raised donations during services by 26% through stronger sermons and connecting donations mentally with real needs in the community.
  • Trained two youth pastors. One went on to become a pastor of a congregation with 200+ members.

Pastor

Our Lady of the Sea Chapel

Jan 2012–May 2013

  • Worked as head pastor in a Christian chapel with 50+ weekly churchgoers.
  • Raised weekly donations from $100 to $300 through direct appeals to urgent needs.
  • Collaborated with local town administrators to organize 20+ fundraising and community service events.

Education

2009–2011 Northpoint Bible College

Associate in Arts Degree in Bible and Theology

  • Led the school fundraising drive in 2011.
  • Conducted a project to write weekly sermons for a local chapel.

Skills

  • Hard skills: Writing sermons, preaching, culture creation, relationship building
  • Soft skills: Leadership, delegation, active listening, interpersonal skills

Activities

Volunteer to make religious rounds at the Boston Children’s Hospital.

Work in the Bunker Hill Soup Kitchen 2x per week.

Here’s how to write a pastor resume that gets jobs:

1. Start With the Best Pastor Resume Format

Pastors lead a congregation of parishoners both during and outside of church services. Aside from giving sermons, they manage other church employees and volunteers, and coordinate fundraising events and activities. A pastor resume must show strong interpersonal skills, charisma, compassion, and effectiveness.

Show you’ll shepherd the small details.

How?

With a neatly-formatted resume for pastor jobs.

Take these steps:

Pro Tip: Put your resume parts in this order: header, summary, pastor experience, education, bonus sections. (We’ll cover each below.)

2. Write a Pastor Resume Objective or Resume Summary

You’re lost amid the flock.

The hiring team has a stack of resumes and not a lot of time.

Catch their notice fast, with a profile on your resume.

It’s called a resume professional summary if you’ve got two years of experience or more, supply it with your 2–3 best pastor achievements.

It’s a career objective if you’re making a resume with no experience. Focus on your pastor skills, but—

Add accomplishments from non-pastor jobs that suggest transferable job skills.

Pro Tip: The main part of your resume is a rock. On it, build your pastor resume summary statement. Don’t start off with the statement or you’ll get stuck for things to say.

3. Design Your Resume to Fit the Pastor Job Description

This is vital:

Craft your pastor resume so it fits this professional opening.

That means tailoring your relevant work experience resume section.

To do that:

  • Begin with your newest pastor job.
  • Write the business title and your ministry and dates.
  • Tell them your responsibilities, plus—
  • Show you met them well by listing key resume accomplishments and achievements.
  • For instance, if they want someone who can fundraise, showing you organized 20 fundraisers fits perfectly.
  • Use measurements like “26%” to clinch the job, and write with resume power words.

Pro Tip: You might need to write a resume for career changers if you’re switching into or out of pastor work. It’ll help you make a smooth transition.

4. Customize Your Pastor Resume Education Section

Most don’t do this right.

Listing education on a resume works better if you show a little pride.

Normally that’s a sin, but in a resume for pastor jobs it’s necessary.

Start with your school, degree, and dates of attendance.

But add positions, groups, courses you excelled in, or projects.

Do you need to share your GPA? Only if you graduated less than a year ago or it was high.

Pro Tip: Show job-related skills with your pastor resume education. If they want fundraising and leadership and you led the school’s fundraising drive, show it.

5. Show Pastor Skills in Your Resume

Use this pastor resume job skills list.

Pastor Resume Skills

Hard Skills:

  • Team building
  • Public speaking
  • Experience with specific denomination (Baptist, Methodist)
  • Fundraising
  • Strategic planning
  • Preaching
  • Writing sermons
  • Teaching
  • Creating a culture
  • One-on-one guidance
  • Relationship building
  • Home and hospital visits
  • Vision casting

Soft Skills:

A word to the wise—

Don’t use all those pastor skills.

Scan the job posting for the most important. Then give evidence like I showed above.

Pro Tip: You need both soft skills and hard skills examples in a resume for pastor jobs. The hiring team wants to know you have both competence and technical abilities.

Making a resume with our builder is incredibly simple. Follow our step-by-step guide, use ready-made content tailored to your job and have a resume ready in minutes.

When you’re done, our free resume builder will score your resume and our resume checker will tell you exactly how to make it better.

6. Add Other Sections to Your Pastor Resume

You’re not in this for the money.

Prove it.

In your resume for pastor jobs, add bonus resume parts.

Choose from:

Pro Tip: Make youth pastor resume bonus sections with a purpose. They should give credence to your qualifications. Making rounds in a hospital shows compassion and commitment.

7. Send a Cover Letter With Your Pastor Resume

When you send a resume for a pastor job, are cover letters important?

They’re critical.

Nearly 50% of hiring teams insist on them. But—

Yours needs to be motivational.

Make your pastor cover letter this way:

Pro Tip: Send a follow-up email to the job hiring team a few days after you apply, then nudge again in one week. They’ll appreciate your diligence.

Plus, a great cover letter that matches your resume will give you an advantage over other candidates. You can write it in our cover letter builder here. Here's what it may look like:

See more cover letter templates and start writing.

That’s it!

That’s how to write a resume for pastor positions.

How did you find your calling? Does your pastor resume do everything it should? Give us a shout in the comments. We’d love to talk!

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This article has been reviewed by our editorial team to make sure it follows Zety's editorial guidelines. We’re committed to sharing our expertise and giving you trustworthy career advice tailored to your needs. High-quality content is what brings over 40 million readers to our site every year. But we don't stop there. Our team conducts original research to understand the job market better, and we pride ourselves on being quoted by top universities and prime media outlets from around the world.

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Tom Gerencer, CPRW
Tom Gerencer is a career expert and Certified Professional Resume Writer who has published over 200 in-depth articles on Zety. Since 2016, he has been sharing advice on all things recruitment from writing winning resumes and cover letters to getting a promotion.
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