How To Become A Hospital Chaplain: What It Is and Career Path

What is a hospital chaplain and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average hospital chaplain salary is $49,423. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an theology major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a hospital chaplain. Hospital chaplains with a Certified Chaplain certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 6% and produce 195,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreHospital ChaplainUS Average

Salary

3.9

Avg. Salary $49,423

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.2

Growth Rate 6%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 6.75%

Black or African American 12.06%

Hispanic or Latino 9.20%

Unknown 4.01%

White 67.54%

Gender

female 31.64%

male 68.36%

Age - 52

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 52

Stress Level

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

10.0

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

5.3

Work Life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a hospital chaplain

Explore hospital chaplain education requirements

Most common hospital chaplain degrees

Bachelor's

46.8 %

Master's

39.4 %

Doctorate

5.3 %

Start to develop specific hospital chaplain skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	29.97%
Clinical Pastoral	12.31%
Pastoral Care	11.29%
Spiritual Care	8.54%
Patient Care	5.76%

Complete relevant hospital chaplain training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New hospital chaplains learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a hospital chaplain based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real hospital chaplain resumes.

Research hospital chaplain duties and responsibilities

Lead outreach efforts to local faith groups engaging them in the life and ministry opportunities on campus.
Conduct spiritual assessments and develop pastoral care plans for assign patients.
Minister to cardiac, pediatrics, oncology, mental health, and hospice wards.
Show compassion, empathy and care for each patient.

Prepare your hospital chaplain resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your hospital chaplain resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a hospital chaplain resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Hospital Chaplain Resume templates

Build a professional Hospital Chaplain resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Hospital Chaplain resume.

Apply for hospital chaplain jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a hospital chaplain job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do hospital chaplains rate their job?

-/5

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Hospital Chaplain reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2023

Pros

being with patients and families during this time of need

Cons

the huge amount of mandated paperwork, DON'T work for a for-profit!

A zippia user wrote a review on Nov 2019