When it comes down to writing a resume, everyone looks at important details like education, work experience, and skills. It doesn’t matter what the position is, from school teacher to youth director, from social worker to pastor, skills matter. A lot.
Besides presenting your spiritual gifts (which are always a must) and a devoted life to Christ, you may desire to add a few things to enhance your resume. Whatever you indicate as part of your arsenal of qualities, it goes without saying that it needs to be true.
In just about every job search, there are skills that every pastor must include on a resume. The church will require its potential pastor to have the spiritual gift of preaching and/or leadership. It will seek a pastor with a pastoral heart that has been proven in its ministry. Casting a vision for future growth is necessary. Good admin skills are sought after. You’ll need to be all for all, which may be overwhelming. You may not be perfect at all of them, yet, you will need these seven competencies in your skillset.
1. Pastor
Usual synonyms: spiritual care, shepherding
This may seem evident, but it’s not always noted. When Jesus, Paul, or Peter described the qualifications of pastors and leaders, there was always an angle of caring for people: “Give a shepherd’s care to God’s flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty, but willingly under God’s direction…” (1 Peter 5:2 NET)
This certainly doesn’t mean you have to be a professional counselor, but your ability to pastor and care for your people must be part of the skills you either have or have been developing. It is among the top five expectations of churchgoers to have a caring pastor who will visit them or reach out to them if they become ill.
2. Relator
Usual synonyms: soft skills, people skills, interpersonal skills
The church is built on the sacrifices of many, on the willingness of the masses of people to give their sacred time, invest their loved energy, and let go of their tight finances. A church is not built only on the quality of preaching nor on the talents of a few gifted individuals. Knowing this, one of the skills you must note on your resume is your people skills. Relating and connecting with people, as well as adapting your personality to those you serve and lead, will allow growth, and many hands make light work.
3. Communicator
Usual synonyms: public speaking, speaker, large group communication, teacher
Just like baseball players need to be able to hit the ball decently, pastors need to be able to preach a decent message from the Word of God. Preaching is still the main way to communicate the Gospel in church settings. It takes up 50% of the church’s service time. Churchgoers have a plethora of options on a Sunday besides joining a live service.
Plus, being a communicator doesn’t only relate to Sunday preaching. It hits home in classes you teach, morning rallies you lead, conferences you plan, and even church initiatives you promote.
If the skill of pastoring is the heart of ministry and relating is the soul, then communicating is the breath that allows life to happen. As Paul states, “Rise to the occasion and preach when it is convenient and when it is not. Preach in the full expression of the Holy Spirit with wisdom and patience as you instruct and teach the people” (2 Timothy 4:2 TPT).
If you believe your skill is not totally up to par, you can easily mention what you’re doing to hone it.
4. Builder
Usual synonyms: team building, organization, administration, planner
Nehemiah, who wasn’t a pastor nor a qualified mason, rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls, led a nation to stand up in the face of hardships, and gave each and everyone a role on the rebuilding team. So building people and teams is necessary in order to achieve what God has called the church to be.
As you communicate care and leadership, you sharpen your builder skills in order “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ…” (Ephesians 4:12 ESV).
5. Inspirer
Usual synonyms: vision casting, guiding capacity,
When Solomon wrote in Proverbs 29:18 (NASB) “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained…”, he meant the people of God need direction, vision, a prophetic word. This is to inspire people to move forward, to “…think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24 NLT).
People are busy. People have crazy schedules. Most would say they feel overwhelmed by the things they need to do during the week. Inspiring people to action and motivating their inner desires and divine calling is very important, vital even.
When your resume shows how you motivate, guide, and inspire people, you show your proven efficiency to be the vision caster the church needs.
6. Multiplier
Usual synonyms: leadership development, discipleship
When inspiring churchgoers to action, you build teams. Teams on First Impressions, Children’s Ministry, Next Steps, Outreach, and the list goes on. Each of these tribes will need to be directed by either a staff person or a lay leader. In other words, you won’t be able to lead each of these ministries directly, and even if you could, you shouldn’t! This is why you want to write down that you followed Paul’s recommendation to Timothy “Take the things you heard me say … and pass them on to faithful people who are also capable of teaching others” (2 Timothy 2:2 CEB). Multiplying people in leadership is an indispensable resume item.
7. Creator
Usual synonyms: culture creator
Churches should be healthy environments where people love one another as Jesus commanded (John 13:34-35), stay united (Ephesians 4:3), and a place of forgiveness and healing (James 5:16). You know as well as I do that it is not always the case. Values and cultural statements are often found on nice posters or laminates, and often, those are not lived out. But culture is not what you write; it is how you behave. Culture is actions, not words.
Every church has a culture. It needs to be built, worded, nurtured, watered, realigned, communicated, appreciated, and rewarded. What you live out as a church, what is tolerated and what is not, and what is promoted and recognized creates a culture.
By posing yourself as a culture creator, you present a way of living and dealing with people and processes.
The hiring church may not know it yet, but it wants a pastor whose resume specifies these seven qualities.
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