How Does Your Ministry Resume Stack Up?
Searching for a new ministry job is never fun.
We're here to help you discern, learn, and make a healthy transition.
Let’s start with the truth. Searching for a new church job stinks. It’s stressful for you and your family. Sometimes you have to search covertly to protect your current employment. Other times it’s just hard to discern whether or not a church would be a good fit for you. There are so many moving pieces.
There are very few resources for people like you that are looking for their next church role. We’re here to help you navigate the process. Start by taking our free resume self-assessment. You’ll get instant feedback on how to make small tweaks to your resume that will make a huge difference.
Then grab a free Enneagram and DISC assessment. You can download the assessment reports and attach them to your resume when you apply to a church. At no cost to you.
We know making decisions can be tough, so we’re also making two free books available for you to download. Before You Go and When to Leave have been extremely helpful to thousands of church leaders as they make important decisions about their future.
Have a question about the search process? Ask us anything. Or check the FAQ about search and resumes below.
Here are some resources to help on your journey.
Protecting Ourselves from Burnout
Rest is not weakness! The first thing we need to recognize is the potential within all of us to burn out. We aren’t superhuman. We all have our limitations, and it’s not lack of faith to take an occasional sabbath. Pastors, if you don’t make an intentional effort to rest,
Five-Second Decisions that Change Your Ministry
We’re all five seconds away from a decision that could change our lives. I read a book called “The Five Second Rule”, and it talks about the reality that we are all just five seconds away from a decision that could drastically change our lives, sometimes forever. Maybe it’s something
Where I Want to Be vs. Where God Wants Me to Be
New seasons in ministry always have church leaders thinking about their future. At least they do for me. Just about every church leader I know says he/she feels called to ministry. But each person describes that call differently. Some people had a very dramatic time, moment, even second when they
When to Leave…
How to know when it’s time to go, before you stay too long Over the last six weeks, I have been surprised by the number of conversations that I have had with pastors regarding succession. While every conversation has been slightly different, they have all been similar to “I had
Before You Go…
The questions you’d rather not ask yourself With all the change that has happened in churches over the last six months, I am having a number of conversations with pastors about transitioning to a new church, a new position, or into retirement. Before heading into a new role, we need
“You’re All Replaceable” -Jesus
OK… Jesus didn’t ever say that.But nonetheless, it’s true.It’s easy for those of us that are called to ministry to feel like we are indispensable. That is… if we didn’t do what we’re doing, it just wouldn’t get done.The Kingdom would be significantly worse without us. Right?(And hopefully, we’re all
Take our free resume self-assessment.
It takes 7 minutes. You get a free report telling you where to improve your resume.
Have Questions About Resumes or the Search Process?
Our general rule of thumb is that your resume should probably land somewhere between one and two pages, depending on work history and experience. Anything longer will not get read by prospective churches.
A really honest answer: the hardest church job to get is your first one.
That said, if God has called you to ministry, there is a position out there for you. It may just take a little longer to find it.
Many churches are looking for past staff experience. It’s important that you show both volunteer and relatable experience on your resume to help churches see your potential as a part of their team.
There are a lot of considerations that come into play in answering this question. How aggressively are you searching? What part(s) of the country are you looking for? What salary do you need for you and your family? What is your experience and education level? All of these things factor into how long it might take for you to find your next place of ministry.
A good rule of thumb is to plan on at least three to six months. In some cases of aggressively searching, it may take up to a year or more.
We see (literally) thousands of ministry resumes each year. Most look nearly identical to be honest. But there are ways to make your resume stand out and grab attention. We suggest you take our free resume self-assessment. It only takes about 7 minutes to complete, and we’ll give you a score between 1 – 100 on how well your resume performs, plus provide you some helpful action steps to nearly immediately improve your current resume.
Honestly, it’s probably not you. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Most churches do not respond back immediately (or at all) when you send them a resume. In fact, if you receive a 10% acknowledgment rate, you’re probably doing better than most.
It never hurts to follow up (about a week after you submit your resume) via email to see if the church has any questions or what your next steps might be. But beware, phone calls to the church are hardly ever appreciated!