Best Jobs for Pastors: What Jobs Can Former Pastors Do After Leaving Ministry?

♟️ STRATEGY SHIFT: How to get clarity on your job type, vision, and values - and then get in front of the right people.

Let's walk through the process that gets you clarity for your next role - in a week or less. This is the same process everyone in our Job Clarity Intensive and Interview Accelerator goes through.

Most people try to figure out their next job in this order: first their skills/experience/wiring, then their vision, then their values. But the best way to do it is in a different order:

Start by creating your vision. Then discover the jobs that align with your skills, experience, and wiring. And then determine what your work values are.

Start with your vision.

We break vision down into 2 major components: personal and professional. They're linked, but most non-ministry jobs are segmented by time (professional = 9:00 am-5:00 pm and personal = 5:00 pm-9:00 am).

You can break personal down even more: family, community, finances, and even time.

Ask yourself what you want to be true of each of those things - specifically, what you want to be true about yourself. Start with this exercise picturing three years from now. Then do it again for 10 years from now.

If you get into a job that doesn't align with this vision, you'll wonder why you're headed in a direction you don't want… or whose vision you're actually fulfilling.

Then get clarity on your job type - the functions, not the title.

Clarity for your next job is about evaluation:

1. Evaluating what you have done in the past (that you could get hired to do again).

2. Evaluating what you enjoy (so you're not stuck doing a job you don't want to be doing).

3. Evaluating what skills you've picked up that will support your family (so you don't have to start over at a lower salary).

Here's the step-by-step process. (You can watch the full 10 minute video of a real coaching call walking through this here.)

Step 1: List the primary functions of your current role.

Start broad. Ask yourself, "What are the two to four things that take up the most of my time week to week?" Not every task - the main categories.

Some functions overlap with the marketplace more than you'd think:

• Handle and advise conflict (this is some of what HR does)

• Create relationships with new people who express interest in the organization and how it might serve them (this is what salespeople do)

• Plan events (this is what Event Planners do)

• Organize complex details for travel (this is what Executive Assistants do)

• Lead meetings (you don't even need a team to do this - you could just have great presentation skills to communicate effectively what you're working on)

Step 2: Break down the actions inside each function.

For each function, ask, "What do I actually do to make this happen? Step by step, what are the actions I take?"

Here's an example from a real coaching call with a pastor named Bobby. For volunteer recruitment, Bobby described it like this:

1. He would pull up the church database

2. Look for people who weren't plugged in

3. Identify who might be a good fit based on his personal knowledge of them

4. Have an in-person conversation

5. Then hand them off to the team leader to continue the relationship

Fun fact: that is exactly what a recruiter or talent acquisition specialist does - database, research, conversation, warm handoff. The job function is functionally identical. The vocabulary is just different.

Step 3: Rate what you actually enjoy.

This part matters as much as the others. If you find a job title that overlaps with your functions but you hate doing that function, none of this matters. We're not just looking for any overlap - we're looking for the overlap in what you're good at and what you enjoy. That ranking tells you where to aim.

Take your top one or two functions and ask yourself: who else does this in the marketplace, just under a different name? You can even plug this into an AI tool like Claude and ask it to suggest job titles. (Disclaimer: use it as a starting point, not a final answer. AI shouldn't tell you what job to do next - talk to people who are actually in that job to figure out what it's really like.)

We built a tool for this called the Career Compass in the Interview Accelerator that gives you a list of job titles that actually fit you based on a large list of factors - we review each person's answers and send back a detailed PDF. We're thinking about releasing this as a standalone tool; click here if you want to be notified when it launches.

One more filter, once you have your top functions: are you offense or defense?

Organizations are like a team sport. Some jobs are offense. Some jobs are defense.

Some jobs are about winning:

• More goals

• More points

• More revenue

Some jobs are about preventing a loss:

• Fewer points from the opponent

• Less money wasted

• Decrease in risk

So answer this question: are you an offensive player or a defensive player? Do you prefer more, bigger, expansion, gains? Or do you prefer efficiency, structure, a strong foundation, or eliminating loss?

If you are an "offensive player," you'll likely fit in roles like:

• Sales

• Marketing

• Account management

If you are a "defensive player," you'll likely fit in roles like:

• HR

• Quality Assurance

• Accounting or Finance

Or, you could be more of a midfielder - maybe you enjoy playing both sides. Roles that will likely fit you:

• Operations

• Product

• Client Success

Understanding how you prefer to operate helps you eliminate roles that won't fit your personality and skillset, so you don't waste time wondering "what if" about roles that were never a fit.

Those lists aren't exhaustive - there are way more jobs, but those are some of the primary functions in an organization.

You can also approach it this way: which problem do you want to solve, and how do you like solving it?

Is there a people problem you can solve with coaching? There's a role for that. Is there a lack of giving or donations you can fix with conversations? There's a job for that. Is there a gap in programs available for people who need them, and you're capable of creating those with great planning? There's a position for that.

What are those called? Hard to say - everyone will call them something different. But here are some ideas:

Recent jobs landed from the Launch Point coaching group:

To give you an idea of roles that are possible from a ministry background, here are roles that people in our coaching group have been hired for recently:

• Customer Success

• Executive Coach

• Community Engagement

• Account Executive (sales)

• Marketing Manager

• Director of Development

• Account Manager

• Career Coach

• Project Manager

• CEO of a local non-profit

There are many other roles that would fit someone coming from ministry, but these are some of the common ones we're seeing!

For more on how job titles map across ministry and corporate roles, see 6 Steps To Finding The Right Corporate Job Title After Leaving Ministry.

Then get clarity on your work values.

We define values as "what is important to you about the way you and others work within an environment."

One of the reasons you might be leaving your current job is a misalignment of values - though it's hard to say you're leaving a ministry because you disagree with the culture (sometimes).

How people work, how meetings are run, how complaints are handled, how people are celebrated, how decisions are made - these will either align or be misaligned with your work values.

If you can define what's important to you here, you'll quickly be able to identify whether a specific job fits you or not. (This is also a good measure of whether a workplace will fit you, not just the job.)

Who helps pastors get jobs?

Once you have clarity on your job type, your vision, and your values - and you've translated your experience onto your resume and identified target organizations (the full process is in The Ministry To Marketplace Method) - it's time to implement this method. Do this too early, and you'll lose your opportunity to get results like the people in our coaching group.

Who do I reach out to?

Start with people you know. Find them in your phone contacts, your Instagram followers, your LinkedIn connections, your email history, the church listserv.

Do some research. Where do they work? Who are they connected to? How could they help you?

That's your first list. Segment them by your "Inner Circle" - those ride-or-die people who will help you no matter what - and your "Current Connections" - the people you know that it wouldn't be weird to reach out to (weird in their mind, not yours - projecting your feelings onto them will reduce that list unnecessarily).

Your second list is "people who don't know you yet." We call these your "Future Connections." These are people more likely to help you for one of two reasons:

• You share a similar background vocationally (former ministry)

• You have a mutual connection who is willing to introduce you

You can find both types of people with specific searches on LinkedIn. Here's a walkthrough of how to find people with a similar vocational background. That's a separate list you'll create only after you've reached out to your Inner Circle and Current Connections.

How do I reach out to them?

"How" includes the mode of communication and the content of the message. Here's how to handle your Inner Circle and Current Connections.

Mode: Reach out in the way that makes the most sense - what was the last way you interacted with them? Text, email, Facebook Messenger? Use that same method, so your most recent conversation is in that place.

Message: A first message reaching out to catch up or continue a conversation is a good start. But regardless of where you begin, make sure your conversation includes one of the following:

1. If you're asking to connect with someone they know: "Hey [name], I saw that you are connected to [mutual connection name]. I'm exploring a career transition, and what [mutual connection] does is really interesting to me. If you felt comfortable, would you be willing to make an introduction so I could learn more about what they do day to day in their job? I really appreciate your time!"

2. If you're asking to learn more about an organization they work for, or used to work for: "Hey [name], I saw that you are connected to [mutual connection name]/went to [name of school]. I'm exploring a career transition, and what [target organization name] does is really interesting to me. I'd love to know how was/is working there for you? I really appreciate your time!"

That second message can lead to the same ask as the first as well. Regardless of how you start the conversation, they need to know why you're reaching out. If they don't know what you need, they can't help you.

It starts with one.

I can tell you from experience, and from coaching everyone we've worked with: the hardest reach-out is the first one. That's why we always have our clients start with their Inner Circle - smallest risk for the greatest reward. Then move to Current Connections, and after that, Future Connections.

You'll become more comfortable the more you do it. I promise. And the faster you become comfortable, the faster you can get into interviews that lead to jobs (remember: 15X or better chance of getting interviews with introductions!).