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 Job applications in Christian ministry
Part A: Preparation
A22 Articles series: Leadership
This article was first published on the website in October 2009 and last updated in September 2015. It is copyright © John Truscott. You may download this file and/or print up to 30 copies without charge provided no part of the heading or text is altered or omitted.
Throughout this article I am addressing you as you apply for any post in a church such as Minister, Youth Pastor, Director of Music or Administrator, or for a post in a mission agency such as CEO, Regional Manager or Finance Officer. Most of the examples will come from a church setting.
I am writing personally to you as though I am one of the team who are short-listing and interviewing for this appointment. I do this not because I wish to appear to put myself in a position of power. No, in this process we are both on a journey to discover God’s will for this post and your application so he must be the one in control.
But I want you, in your application, always to have someone like me in mind. Put yourself in the shoes of those responsible for the selection and you are more likely to write and present yourself in a helpful way.
As this article is longer than most items on this website it is split into two separate files. This is Article A22, Preparation. Article A23, Presentation, follows on. Here is how the two fit together.
A: PREPARATION (Article A22)
1: Be ready
1.1 Seek God’s will
1.2 Consider your CV

1.3 Write your CV
1.4 Follow key guidelines
1.5 Format your CV
1.6 Prepare a private assessment
2: Study the profile
2.1 Check this could be you
2.2 Read between the lines
2.3 Define questions to ask
2.4 Understand the process
B: PRESENTATION (Article A23)
3: Write your application
3.1 Explain why you have applied
3.2 Address the issues
3.3 Be real about yourself
3.4 Give me reasons to select you
3.5 Apply in the required format
4: Prepare for the interview
4.1 Prepare the formal interview
4.2 Be ready for the questions
4.3 Make a presentation
4.4 Get the most out of your visit
4.5 Learn from the outcome Article A22: Job applications in Christian ministry – Part A: Preparation page 2
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1: Be ready
This first section assumes you have not yet started your search process. This is the homework stage to be done, wherever possible, well in advance of your first application.
1.1 Seek God’s will
I will assume that your first desire is to find God’s will for your life and, in particular, for the next chapter of your ministry. This should be equally true whether you are looking for a church or mission post (as a Minister or a lay worker as assumed here) or employment as a butcher, baker or candlestick maker.
Some of what I say will not differ greatly from advice for an application by a butcher’s boy or baker’s girl who makes no claim to Christian beliefs. What will be distinctive, among other points, is the motivation that supports the whole process. The Christian should be seeking to please his or her Lord in finding the next post.

So the first area of preparation has to be seeking wisdom from God and trusted counsellors. Guidance may well then come, in part at least, through the process of applying for posts. But there needs to be a prior period of reflection before God and discussion with those who know you best as to what you should be looking for.
Here are some of the issues to consider (you will be able to add others).
For a church Minister:
 Why do I feel it may be right to look for another post now rather than later?

 To what extent might considerations such as my spouse’s needs, my children’s education, my singleness, my parents’ health, my need for access to specialist academic input, and so on affect my decision?

 Am I looking for a fresh challenge, possibly outside my comfort zone, or an escape from my present post at any price?

 Am I looking for another church or a more specialised ministry, and why?

 To what extent is any present restlessness driven by my need for ‘promotion’ (such as to move to a larger church), or ‘an easier life’ (to get away from the inner-city), or do I feel my gifts mean I should expect to seek to do something similar to what I have done here (such as grow a small church)?

 Am I a pioneer or a maintainer, an evangelist or a pastor, a leader or a follower, a team player or a solo worker?

Some of those questions will also apply to other types of workers too, but here are additional issues to explain, which are not necessarily restricted to the headings I suggest.
For a church’s young people’s worker:
 Should I be working for Christ in a church or for a local authority / other employer?

 I have had a good/bad experience of management in my present role, but am I hoping for or fearing a different outcome in a new post and how would I cope if it was not good?

 To what extent do I need to consider the young people I am currently responsible for in my decision whether to move now or not?

For an administrator in a mission agency office:
 Might God be calling me to something back in the normal employment world this time round?

 Would I be more useful in the long run if I took a year out for training, or looked for a part-time post to enable me to undertake a course, and how would I finance this?

 To what extent do the needs of my mission agency and of my colleagues there affect my decision?

For an itinerant evangelist:
 Would I be able to work as an employee when I have become used to doing my own thing?

 Would I be better in ‘tent-making work’ to finance part-time evangelism rather than seeking financial support from friends?

 Are my gifts the same as they were ten years ago or are they slowly changing and have I taken account of this?

For someone not currently in paid Christian ministry
 Is God calling me away from my career and, if so, what might be the costs that I need to count carefully (not only financial)?
Article A22: Job applications in Christian ministry – Part A: Preparation page 3
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 Do I have an over-rosy view of how wonderful it must be to ‘work for Jesus full time’ and just how much do I know as to what the true situation is often like?

 Am I trying to escape my responsibilities of Christian witness in the world to hide within a cosy Christian environment?

Before you rush to your study to write your CV, as I advise in the next section, make sure you have taken time and given careful thought to such points. Perhaps a one-day ‘retreat’ away from all distractions and your present post with just a Bible and a notebook might enable you to hear God’s voice for you. Then open your heart to your close family (whether Christian or not) and a few friends to see what their reaction might be.
But perhaps the application process has been thrust on you without warning. You are being ‘head-hunted’ for a post or a friend saw an ad in the church press and ‘thought of you’. In this case much of what is said here may need to be telescoped into a short time-scale.
Having followed this process you are more likely to give a satisfactory answer to that standard initial interview question: “So why did you apply for this post?”.
1.2 Consider your CV

If you are thinking of looking for a new post, writing (or updating) your CV will be a good starting point, whether or not you ever need to use it in your applications.
If you are a Minister you may not have done this since before ordination. On the other hand, if you are coming from a secular post, remember that your present CV may not be what is required when applying for a specifically Christian position. It may have too much detail about professional qualifications and responsibilities, too much management jargon, and too little about Christian gifting and your experience of church work. It may also be written in a style that is designed to sell ‘you’ as a ‘product’ against the ‘opposition’ with excessive language about your brilliance. See the guidelines in section 1.4 for help here.
Purpose and content
A CV (curriculum vitae – literally, the course of one’s life) is a straightforward document written to tell a prospective employer about your education, aptitudes and professional experience.
But, and this is a crucial point, it also has to give the selectors clues as to what you may be capable of achieving. So I can see that you have led one church through a change process, but do I feel you are capable to doing the same with this church now? I read you have had an amazingly successful career as a music teacher, but will you be able to cope in a much less structured environment as a Worship Minister? You have had a great time as Administrator of a 200-sized church, but can you step up to the post of Operations Director for this 800-sized one? You were awarded your PhD on ‘The deep theology of Jürgen Moltmann’, but can you teach our unruly teens?
Your application and your interview are trying to do exactly the same thing: converting a past track record into information for decisions about the future. It helps to keep this point in mind all the way through the application and selection process.
A typical CV (for a church or mission post) is likely to be in pretty standard format. See section 1.3 for more detail. But there is sometimes a case for writing something just a fraction out of the ordinary.
For example, the normal content might be ideal for a Minister of a pastoral church, a Church Administrator or a Leader of Seniors Ministry. But if you are applying for posts as a Youth Leader or for a pioneer ministry in any form, I would be more open to a less predictable format because this would show me that you have that spark that this particular post requires.
So a CV that gives the briefest detail on career to date and more information on skills or personality or gifting might be appropriate. If you have extensive experience of, for example, planting a church while holding down a full-time job in the bank, you might want to hold back on the bank details and qualifications and play up the voluntary activity more.
In most cases, one CV can back several job applications (if similar). But there are two key exceptions to this. First, if you apply for equivalent posts in Christian missions and secular charities or other bodies, you will need two CVs. Secondly, if you are asked to apply for a post simply by submitting a CV, then you need to target it much more, because it becomes your application. You might want to add a third page picking up specific points about the job you are applying for, just as though you had been asked to make an application on a standard form. Here is a quote from advice on writing a cracking CV. “Think of your CV as your marketing literature. It should focus on the product – in other words, the service you offer. Your age, marital status, hobbies and vital statistics are not relevant, so leave them out.” Do you agree with this for a church post?

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