How to Find a Church Job: Where to Look and What to Know

Start with the church’s own careers page, its denomination’s job board and the Church Posting jobs page. Read the title, hours, supervisor and pay before applying. In church postings read October 19, 2026, only 13 percent of 379 listings state usable pay.

The aggregate figures come from church postings read October 19, 2026, covering 379 listings at 179 churches and ministries. The housing allowance section uses IRS Publication 517. The job pages show current openings.

Where do church jobs get posted?

Look for the church’s own careers page, any hiring system it uses and its denomination’s job board. In the October 19 snapshot, 196 listings link to a church-run hiring system or website.

Denominations also run boards. The Converge church jobs page lists 101 results and says “Churches affiliated with Converge in any of our 10 regions may submit job postings here.” The Louisiana Baptist Convention site links a position search and a place for churches to post positions. If your tradition has a network or a state convention, look for its job page.

Where is the biggest list of church jobs?

Church Posting’s jobs page lists open church jobs in one place, each from the church’s own job page or posted by the church, with a link to apply there. Large general job sites such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter also carry church postings.

Which church jobs are open?

The postings fall into six categories, and youth and kids is the largest.

On October 19, 2026, the jobs sat in 38 states and Washington, D.C. Texas had 71, California 49, Florida 32, North Carolina 25, Missouri 24, Georgia 20, Pennsylvania 19 and South Carolina 18. The 14 churches with five or more openings held 194 of the 379 postings, and 152 of the 179 employers had posted one job. Pages for every state and for every role list what is open now.

What are the five positions in a church?

Churches do not use a fixed list. The six categories above are the ones the postings fall into. Pastoral roles include senior, lead, associate and campus pastors. Youth and kids roles include youth, student and children’s ministry leaders. Administration holds office, business and finance work, worship holds music and worship leaders, and media and communications holds production, video and design.

How do you read a church job posting?

Read the title word first, because it predicts the hours. The table counts how many postings use each word in the title and how many of those say full time.

A title can hold more than one of these words. Pastor titles say full time in 79 percent of cases and coordinator titles in 21 percent, and 18 of the 33 coordinator postings do not say.

Then read for four things.

1. The hours. 121 of the 379 postings do not say full time or part time.
2. The supervisor. Ask who assigns work and reviews performance.
3. The pay. 48 of the 379 state usable pay, and the church staff salaries guide lists BLS medians for the roles you may apply for.
4. The faith requirements. Read the statement of faith and ask which commitments the role requires.

How old is a posting?

The median posting on Church Posting carried a posted date 14 days before our October 19, 2026 read. Of the 379, 193 were posted in the last 14 days and 247 in the last 30. The other 132 (35 percent) are more than 30 days old, 64 are more than 60 days old and 41 are more than 90 days old. An older posting may still be open, and a short email to the church will tell you.

Is it hard to get a job in ministry?

We cannot measure how many people apply to each church, and no source we found counts them. What the postings show is the number of entry points. Seventy-four of the 379 postings carry assistant, associate, coordinator, intern, resident or apprentice in the title. Four are ministry internships or residencies, including the Elevation Church Internship Program for summer 2027 in North Carolina, a Church Planting Intern in Florida, and Pastoral Resident roles at The Crossing in Missouri and The Local Church in Michigan. The ministry internship pages list them as they open.

Coordinator and assistant titles are the least likely to say full time, at 7 of 33 and 5 of 14, so they can suit a person who is building a record while holding another job. The 2025 Presbyterian Association of Musicians survey found that 61 percent of church musicians hold other employment.

What should a candidate check before applying?

Read the required and preferred qualifications separately. Ask about any education, experience or credentials that the church has left unclear. The youth pastor guide, the worship leader guide and the children’s ministry director guide help you prepare questions by role.

What should a ministry resume show?

Give concrete examples of your work. State the number of volunteers you trained, the budget you managed and the programs you led. Name the tools you used and provide references who can confirm your responsibilities.

How do you apply for a church job?

Follow the posting’s instructions. Ask what documents or recordings the church needs, who receives them and when you can expect an answer. The interview questions guide lists what to ask in return.

How does a minister’s housing allowance work?

A housing allowance is the part of a minister’s pay that the church designates for housing, and the minister can leave it out of income for income tax up to limits. The rule applies to a minister who is “a duly ordained, commissioned, or licensed minister,” according to IRS Publication 517, so a secretary or custodian who is not a credentialed minister does not qualify. A worship or youth leader qualifies only if the church credentials the person as a minister and the person meets the other tests.

For a minister who owns a home, Publication 517 limits the exclusion to the lowest of the housing costs paid, the designated allowance and the home’s fair rental value with furnishings and utilities. A minister who rents can exclude a designated rental allowance used to provide or rent a home, up to reasonable pay. A minister who lives in a church-owned parsonage can exclude its fair rental value.

Two rules matter in a job offer. The church “must officially designate the payment as a housing allowance before it makes the payment” and “must designate a definite amount.” The exclusion “applies only for income tax purposes,” so the minister still owes self-employment tax on the allowance.

What should a candidate ask about housing?

Four questions cover it.

1. Will the church designate a housing allowance, and in what amount?
2. Is the amount inside the posted salary or in addition to it?
3. Does the church own a parsonage, and who pays the utilities?
4. When does the board vote on the amount each year, and can the amount change mid-year?

The housing allowance and W-2 guide works through an example with the W-2, and a candidate should ask a tax professional who works with ministers how the rules apply to the offer.

What should you do next?

Open the jobs page, pick a role and a state, and read three postings in full before you apply to any. The weekly newsletter sends new guides and job data, and the church finder shows the churches near a new city for a candidate who is also moving. A church that needs to fill a job can post it free.