Assignment Title: The Qualities of a Church Leader Start with what is Inside – Working in
Ministry Requires Passion, Dedication and Training
Course: CHMN 699 - Internship
Student: Kristine Sage
2022
Professor: Dr. Mary Smith
Liberty University
The Qualities of a Church Leader Start with what is Inside – Working in Ministry Requires
Passion, Dedication and Training
Ministers have to feel the call to service, but just experiencing that inspiration doesn’t get
the job done. Devotion is critical, but it’s only a way to drive your dedication and propel you to
the actions you’ll need to take to preach the Word and make a difference in people’s lives.
Ministers require a special set of skills on top of their faith and spirituality. Some of those
skills may be innate—you might be the kind of person who is easy to talk to, who is full of
compassion and understanding. But there are also many aspects of a minister’s service that
come from knowledge and skills you must learn along the way.
Not surprisingly, the Bible lays out the first and last word on the personal qualities required
of ministers. According to 1 Timothy 3, a bishop or deacon must be:
Vigilant, sober, and of good behavior
Given to hospitality
Able to teach
Not given to wine nor greedy of filthy lucre
Not covetous nor given to brawling
From doing good in both word and deed to living a life of humbleness and piety, a minister
is expected to show leadership in what it means to be a good Christian. Moral rectitude and the
righteous acts of a minister are meant to inspire and offer a model for everyone around them.
Living the gospel is a non-negotiable set of qualities every minister must possess. Your
personal and spiritual integrity will serve as the solid foundation that all your other
responsibilities will build on. A minister is a leader and example to others of a dutiful, moral
Christian. Your respect and effectiveness in any ministry job will rest on that.
Your ability to empathize with others and to teach them is also a matter of personality as
much as training. What is in your heart connects you to your duties and your flock.
They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as
deacons.
~ 1 Timothy 3:10
Learn How to Become a Minister in Just Five Steps
Knowing you need an education is just one piece of fulfilling your calling to become a
minister. The practical process required can take years, but there are really only five steps that
you will need to fulfill to get there. Each of them can be a challenge; all of them will serve to
make you a more competent and trustworthy messenger and pastor in the end.
1. Volunteer in a Ministry Project to See How It Feels To Become a Minister
Many ministers begin their path to service close to home: by volunteering in their own
parish or community.
While this service can be strictly of a religious character, it may also take the shape of
purely secular community service.
Helping out at a food bank, building tiny homes for the unhoused, or organizing a toy
collection drive for impoverished kids are all activities that are right in line with God’s teachings,
even if they are organized under secular associations.
And they will all help you build skills that you can further use in God’s service later on in
your career.
Volunteering also gives you the chance to test your mettle. A life in the ministry brings
many challenges, and it’s best for you to face them early and to pray on them before you are in
a position where a lack of faith may let others down. Learning how to become a minister is not
a solo pursuit—discussing your calling and finding guidance in the words of others is a critical
part you can fill by exploring it as a volunteer first.
2. Complete Your Degree in the Ministry To Learn How To Become a Minister
Once you have searched your soul and confirmed your commitment to becoming a
minister, it’s time to get the education for the job. A master’s degree is the surest path to
prepare, but getting there means first earning a four-year bachelor’s degree. With another two
years dedicated to a master’s program, you are looking at this step taking six years or more to
complete.
You can take full advantage of your studies by choosing a concentration or specialty that
lines up with your overall goals for how to become a minister. Different programs can offer
customized courses of study to prepare you specifically for special kinds of ministries, including:
Marriage and family ministry
Educational ministry
Christian missions
Youth ministry
These each build on the core subjects of a ministry degree to give you greater expertise in
your chosen field before you even graduate. Many offer internships or other experiential
learning opportunities to give you a hands-on taste of what it is really like to be a minister.
Ministry Degrees Should Be Fully Accredited To Prepare You To Become a Minister
Ensuring the quality of a religious education is a tricky business considering the history and
wide range of different teachings and denominations of the Faith that exist today.
Fortunately, you have a secular crutch to lean on as you are evaluating different schools
and degree options. The Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education
Accreditation (CHEA) each maintain lists of accreditation agencies that you can rely on to
evaluate and approve schools that offer degrees in divinity.
Those agencies don’t dive down into deep matters of theological philosophy or make any
judgements about issues of doctrine. That leaves schools free to teach exactly the kinds of
subjects they think are most important for future ministers to learn.
What the agencies do look at are the things that ensure you get what you are paying for in
an American college degree, and that future employers can trust that you have received a
complete education according to community standards.
That includes things like:
Instructor credentials and hiring standards
Consistent grading and academic standards
Administrative efficiency
Truth in advertising
Your path to a minister job will be a lot smoother with a degree from a legitimately
accredited university.
How Much Should You Expect To Pay For The Degree You Need To Become a Minister?
Ministers aren’t paid on the same scale as lawyers or economists, even though they may
spend just as long in school to get their qualifications. But that doesn’t mean you get a discount
on your education. In fact, you may end up paying more for a degree in divinity than in a more
profitable field.
That’s because most Christian studies degrees, at both the bachelor and master’s degree
level, are offered by private universities. According to the National Center for Education
Statistics, that brings the price tag up over what a public university with state subsidies would
cost.
For graduate-level programs, the price of tuition and fees at private universities rises above
$26,500 per year.
At the bachelor’s level, private universities cost an average of $32,417 annually, versus the
overall average of $13,360. Those costs don’t include room and board, which will vary
depending on where in the country your choose to attend school.
Residency Programs for Ministers Chip Away at Tuition While Offering On-the-Job
Training
One thing to look at that can alleviate both high college costs and bridging the gap between
theoretical training in the ministry and real-world applications is a ministry residency program.
These are programs run by schools or by individual churches that place you in a local
ministry job for some fixed period during your schooling. You may either be paid a nominal
wage for the work or receive a deduction on your tuition costs.
Beyond that good fortune, you also get the chance to actually practice your preaching on
real congregations or in non-profit ministerial roles in the community. You have the opportunity
to observe how ministers and pastors operate on the ground, and will be mentored by them as
you feel your way into your own style and techniques.
Some residencies are post-graduate experiences, offering the same kind of transitional
training but not necessarily directly applying to your tuition or college costs. Nonetheless, they
can be valuable ways to build experience in a sheltered environment before taking the plunge
as a minister entirely on your own.
3. Obtain a Minister License or Become Ordained by Your Denomination
Ordination is the biggest formal step you’ll have to take in how to become a licensed
minister. Very few states actually require that you proactively obtain a license to perform
ministerial work. On the flip side, most denominations do not recognize any secular
organization as qualified to authorize clergy to perform services on their behalf.
While some denominations refer to their clergy as licensed ministers, for most the process
of getting the right approval involves becoming ordained.
Ordination is a sacred process that will vary from denomination to denomination. You’ll
have to determine exactly what requirements you’ll need to meet and the process you will have
to go through to become recognized as a minister by your religion. In general, however, most
denominations require at least the following:
Being a member of a congregation of that denomination for a set period of time before
applying
Getting endorsed by one or more church elders
Going through an interview with a committee or other authority in the church
Earning a relevant degree in theology or ministry
Those just get you in the door, however. Taking the Sacrament of Holy Orders, or rites
required in your faith to signify full ordination, is the next big step.
Ordination itself is an important recognition of your status as minister, however. It has
implications for how secular authority will view your employment status and tax obligations. It
also offers the consecration of your denomination to perform the rituals and services of a
minister, including function such as:
Leading ceremonies of worship
Teaching religious texts
Offering communion
Delivering spiritual counseling
Conducting weddings, funerals, or baptisms
4. Pass Ordination Exams
Many denominations require that you take and pass rigorous examinations in order to
become ordained. In some ways, these will resemble the kind of tests you take in school, so
earning a degree also offers a good way to prepare for them. But in other ways, they involve
much more in-depth and personal probing. The typical ordination exam series will include
written essays on religious subjects or passages from scripture.
You can also expect to face oral examination, in some cases for 10 hours or more, facing a
committee of elders. You’re expected to have attained mastery in common theological
questions and to demonstrate both familiarity with and understanding of scripture. Questions
can range from those testing your basic Biblical knowledge, such as identifying the reason that
Miriam was afflicted by leprosy, to more thorny subjects, such as an interpretation in your faith
of the concept of universal salvation. While you have to demonstrate basic knowledge and
theological reasoning skills, ordination exams will also weigh you as a person and a leader. You
can expect to answer very personal questions about your life, your faith, and your commitment.
