Pastors Job Hunting in the Secular World

Are you a pastor who’s decided to leave the ministry? Secular job hunting is different from a church search and requires different résumés.

Ministry has so many pressures that nobody told you about before you went to seminary or Bible college. Once you got there, you heard stories of churches abusing their pastors—but you barely believed them. “After all,” you told yourself, “Pastors are the bosses of their churches. How could ministry be all that difficult?”

The Struggle of Ministry

Pretty soon, though, you found out that in ministry, when you go the extra mile, it turns into a marathon. Maybe you asked yourself a long time ago if it was time to hang up your robes. Still, you remained, either out of a sense of calling from God, or because you were convinced that you needed to be loyal to your church. You were going to fight the good fight, you told yourself. You were going to finish the race.

Quiet Quitting the Church

In my October 2022 article, “Pastors Are Quiet Quitting The Church,” I wrote:

Many pastors are quiet quitting the church. If you’re unfamiliar with that term, it’s come up a lot lately in reference to the Great Resignation. Employers are realizing that, just like the Twisted Sister song, their employees are “not gonna take it anymore.” Partially due to COVID, but more due to economic and work environment factors, employees are quitting in droves. But many who can’t afford to actually are quiet quitting. Countless ministers have joined in the Great Resignation. Many more pastors are quiet quitting the Church.

In this article, I outlined the reasons many pastors find it easier to quiet quit—keeping their jobs while deciding to do no more than expected. Yet, one can only quiet quit for so long. Eventually, you’ve got to fish or cut bait. This is why I wrote “Pastors–Quit Quiet Quitting The Church” the following month. Because, if you can stay in ministry without your sanity and your family suffering from it, maybe you should. Or, maybe it’s time for some job hunting.

Other Kinds of Work

But what if there has been too much damage done by the ministry, and you have to leave to save your sanity or your family? Or, maybe you’ve deconstructed your faith and it’s gotten you crucified. You said too much from the pulpit and the sheep have turned on their shepherd. The good news is that if your deconstruction gets you crucified, there’s hope of resurrection. First, there are other kinds of jobs for ordained members of the clergy. There are denominational offices, chaplaincy, and other kinds of ministry suited to former pastors. These may require you to go back to school or get a different type of licensure, but you can still work in “the ministry” without your employer being a local congregation.

Then, there is the wide secular world. There is life after the church. Another career awaits you after you leave church ministry. I know former pastors who are employed in so many industries—social services, house painting, public transit, education, and car sales. Sometimes it’s a matter of job hunting for any work at all because you need to get out of church ministry fast. Other times, you get to explore a potential new career.

Why Secular Employees Avoid Ministers

So, you’ve concluded that it’s time to hang up your robes. You need to dust off your résumé and cast your bread upon the waters. But will prospective employers take the bait? When it came time for me to leave church ministry, I sent out so many résumés to prospective employers, only to experience rejection repeatedly.

Often, secular employers avoid hiring ministers, and for good reason. First, pastors who are between churches often find temporary secular employment until they can return to church ministry. Secular employers don’t want to hire temporary employees unless they are doing it on purpose. Second, they are concerned that pastors will try to evangelize the workplace. This concern isn’t unfounded, either. For these reasons and more, many secular employers would rather not hire members of the clergy. This is why pastors who are job hunting must learn to craft winning secular résumés.

The Kind of Résumé You DON’T Want to Send

If you’ve spent your whole adult life in ministry like I did, secular résumés might be a bit of a mystery. You might, on the other hand, be very familiar with ministry résumés. Secular and clergy résumés are entirely different—so please don’t send your ministry résumé to secular employers. Do not include all the personal details about your faith and family situation that you might put on your ministry C.V. Instead, restrict your résumé to the kinds of things a secular employer would find valuable. And remember, the law prohibits secular HR departments from digging into your personal life.

Pastors Leaving Ministry: Crafting a Winning Secular Résumé

When I started job hunting, at first, I just sent my ministry résumé to secular employers. Soon, I found that secular employers are utterly unimpressed with ministers. I knew I needed help with my résumé, so I went to an employment agency in the community where I was looking for work. I “just happened” to meet someone who worked in that agency who was a former pastor. He showed me how pastors leaving ministry can craft winning résumés. “You’ve got to create a skills-based résumé,” he told me. After shuffling things around, it looked much better. Within a brief time, I was hired.

In my next article, “Pastors Leaving Ministry: Crafting a Winning Secular Résumé,” I will highlight how you can adapt your ministry résumé to a secular one that will land you a great job. I hope you’ll join me as you consider God’s continued calling for your work outside the church.