How to Create a Pastor Resume (With Example and Template)

If you enjoy preaching and leading a congregation, you can consider pursuing a career as a pastor. When pursuing this career, you can create a resume to communicate your qualifications for the role. Learning about how to create this document may help you demonstrate the right experience and skills to secure a job as a pastor. In this article, we explore how you can create a pastor resume, provide a template and example resume you can reference and offer some resume-writing tips you can consider.

Related: Top Resume Sample Formats (With Tips and Examples)

What does a pastor do?

The responsibilities of a pastor may include:

• functioning as a representative of a church and acting in a professional, approachable manner

• writing and presenting sermons regularly

• introducing guest speakers

• organising community events

• negotiating community contracts and partnerships on behalf of the church

• counselling people through personal challenges

• collaborating with advisory councils to reach a consensus about decisions within a church

How to write a pastor resume

Here's a list of the steps you can follow to create a pastor resume:

1. List your contact information

Your contact information consists of your name, phone number, email address and mailing address. Write your name at the top of your resume and consider formatting it in bold font so it's more memorable for a reader. Ensure you use an email address that sounds professional and provide a phone number that's easily reachable. This can help the hiring manager understand how to reach you in case they have questions or want to schedule an interview or offer you the position.

If you want to provide some videos of your sermons or pictures of community events you organised, you can also add a link to any relevant websites.

Related: 42 Motivational Quotes for Job Seeking Professionals

2. Write your professional summary

Before creating a detailed work experience section, you may benefit from including a professional summary. This is a two to three sentence introduction that describes how long you've been working in your career, what skills you have, what your major accomplishments are and what unique qualities you have. It's important to customise your professional summaries based on the requirements for each application. You can also mention your career goals, what you hope to achieve if you're chosen and how your expertise positively affected your previous workplaces.

3. Include your work experience

Under your professional summary, create a detailed history of your work experience. Include the most recent positions you've held, but consider prioritising the ones that demonstrate how you're qualified to meet the requirements in a job advertisement. Start with the position you've held most recently and provide your official job title, the name of the organisation and your period of employment. If you list a position where you currently work, you can write Current and use the present tense to describe your duties.

Use bullet points to list the responsibilities you had in each workplace, what projects you worked on, who you collaborated with and what you accomplished while working there.

Related: Common Civil Service Job Interview Questions (With Sample Answers)

4. Add your education

In your education section, include information about what schools you've attended and what training you've received, starting with the highest degree level. Write the name of each institution, the location of the organisation, what type of degree you earned and the date you graduated. If the position you're applying for requires a degree you don't have, consider placing emphasis on training programmes you've attended, volunteer events you've led or practical experiences that taught you relevant skills.

While organisations may prioritise candidates with a degree, you can supplement your qualifications by describing what skills you've developed through other experiences, too.

Related: How to Include "About Me" in a Resume (With Examples)

Resume template

Here's a template you can use when creating your resume:

[Full Name]
[Phone number] | [Professional email address] | [Home address] | [Relevant website links]

Professional Summary

[Brief summary that mentions your core competencies, work experience and career achievements]

Work Experience

[Job Title], [Start date]–[End date]
[Company Name], [Location]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

[Job Title], [Start date]–[End date]
[Company Name], [Location]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

[Job Title], [Start date]–[End date]
[Company Name], [Location]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

• [Strong verb] + [job duty] + [impact]

Skills

[Relevant skill] | [Relevant skill] | [Relevant skill] | [Relevant skill]

Education

[Degree earned]
[Institution name], [Graduation year]

Certifications

• [Certification], [Certifying body] - [Date received/renewed]

• [Certification], [Certifying body] - [Date received/renewed]

Example of pastor resume

Here's an example of a pastor resume you can reference when creating your own:

David Cheung
5889 4321 | davidcheung@email.com | Chai Wan, Hong Kong | pastordavidcheung.com

Professional Summary

Community-focused and compassionate pastor looking for an opportunity to use my years of experience to make a change. Fluent in English, Chinese and Korean. Experienced with crisis intervention and cultural competency.

Work Experience

Pastor, July 2019–Current
A New Start Parish, Chai Wan, Hong Kong

• lead services by reviewing scripture and local news to ensure relevance and positive impact

• counsel members of the congregation to find solutions and develop emotional skills

• organise community events to increase church attendance in the area

• meet with local organisations to partner on community projects

• supervise other officials in the parish to develop sermons and provide resources

Youth pastor, April 2018–July 2019
North Point Guidance Youth Camp, North Point, Hong Kong

• counselled youths on family, emotional and interpersonal issues to learn healthy coping skills

• planned and oversaw camp activities that helped campers learn skills and enjoy themselves

• conducted training for camp counsellors on best practices for working with youths

Associate pastor, January 2017–April 2018
Light and Faith Congregation, Chai Wan, Hong Kong

• assisted the pastor with daily duties to increase efficiency and learn about the role

• reviewed and wrote sermons to reach the members of the congregation

• planned and oversaw a community event that increased attendance by 10%

Skills

Charisma | Organisation | Communication | Fund-raising

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Theology
Kowloon Preacher College

Certifications

• Pastoral Leadership Certificate, Divinity School of North Point - 2019

• Pastoral Counselling Certification, The Hong Kong Pastor Association - 2018

Tips for writing a resume

Here are some tips that you can consider when you're writing your own resume:

Review the job listing

When writing your resume, it's important to review the job listing to understand what qualities an employer is looking for in candidates. This can help you identify keywords you can use in your resume when describing your skills and experience. You may also identify qualities in the listing that don't match yours so you can develop them. It can also be beneficial to match the wording of your resume to a job description to help you tailor your resume for a role.

Proofread your work

Before you send your resume or other application materials, ensure to proofread for accurate grammar, spelling, structure and formatting. This can show your attention to detail. Consider asking someone to read your resume and give you feedback. It may also help to read your application out loud so you can spot any awkward language you may have used.

Be consistent

To ensure that a hiring manager can easily read and understand your resume, make sure you're consistent with your formatting. For example, using the same style of bullet points for all lists and using the same font throughout your resume. It's also important to be consistent with your wording and tone, so your resume feels more personalised.