How To Become A Senior Pastor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior pastor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Dr. Christopher Foster

A senior pastor writes, teaches, and preaches sermons and provides spiritual leadership. He/She works with the church elders and administrative staff to ensure that the church operations run perfectly. He/She oversees the pastoral team, which may include an associate pastor, executive pastor, youth pastor, worship pastor, and children's ministry director. Moreover, he/she focuses on growing members of the church spiritually. Additionally, he/she manages the overall ministry of the congregation and oversees evangelism and mission outreach to the local community and the world. Besides that, he/she officiates at weddings and funerals and represents the church at community events.

For different churches and denominations, there are different requirements for this role. However, a degree in divinity or theology is what most churches require. Skills like leadership, public speaking, counseling, worship planning, communication, and administration are essential to this role. Senior pastors make an average salary of $62,494 per annum. This varies between $36,000 and $109,000.

What general advice would you give to a Senior Pastor?

Dr. Christopher Foster

Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies, Graduate School of Theology and, Oral Roberts University

Find a local church where you can serve and begin to apply the things you have learned-even if you are not employed there. Many churches hire from within to ensure staff fit the culture and ethos of the community. Remember your agility skills - creativity and innovation will be a requirement. Be comfortable working in an unknown and do not be afraid to innovate. Run with new ideas or test new approaches in this constantly changing environment.
Work is not your life! Focus on who you are called to be (being) and not what you are invited to do (doing).

ScoreSenior PastorUS Average

Salary

3.6

Avg. Salary $45,556

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

2.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.44%

Asian 6.58%

Black or African American 11.66%

Hispanic or Latino 8.93%

Unknown 3.99%

White 68.41%

Gender

female 7.83%

male 92.17%

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 senior pastor

Explore senior pastor education requirements

Most common senior pastor degrees

Bachelor's

49.0 %

Master's

31.0 %

Associate

7.9 %

Start to develop specific senior pastor skills

Skills	Percentages
Community Outreach	22.46%
Pastoral Care	11.35%
Overseer	8.02%
Bible Study	5.63%
GOD	5.01%

Complete relevant senior pastor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior pastors 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 senior pastor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior pastor resumes.

Research senior pastor duties and responsibilities

Manage and provide oversight for the administration of all ministry areas within the organization.
Emphasize Christ-centered teaching, fervent prayer, multilevel family Christian education programs, evangelism and mission outreaches.
Encourage servant evangelism and outreach through numerous community service projects i.e.
Major responsibilities include purchasing or developing curriculum, group leadership, volunteer recruitment and training.

Get senior pastor experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior pastor. The most common roles before becoming a senior pastor include associate pastor, pastor team lead and chaplain.

Prepare your senior pastor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior pastor 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 senior pastor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Pastor Resume templates

Build a professional Senior Pastor 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 Senior Pastor resume.

Apply for senior pastor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior pastor 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 senior pastors rate their job?

-/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

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1 Star

Senior Pastor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2021

Pros

Educating unbelievers, Soul winning and people communicating directly to God through Jesus Christ

Cons

Castigation, arguement and condemnation