Ministers of religion lead religious organisations or communities, perform spiritual and religious ceremonies and provide spiritual guidance to members of a particular religious group. They may undertake missionary work, pastoral or preaching work, or work within a religious order or community, such as a monastery or convent. Ministers of religion perform duties such as leading worship services, giving religious education, officiating at funerals and marriages, counselling congregation members and offer a range of other community services, both in conjunction with the organisation they work for, and through their own personal day to day activities.
The following job titles also refer to minister of religion:
monk
deacon
nun
priest
minister of the church
spiritual leader
ordained clergyman
pastor
religious minister
member of the clergy
bishop
church minister
ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:
the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.
These occupations require some skills and knowledge of minister of religion. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of minister of religion with a significant experience and/or extensive training.
These skills are necessary for the role of minister of religion.
Provide social counselling: Assist and guide social service users to resolve personal, social or psychological problems and difficulties. Interpret religious texts: Interpret the contents and messages of religious texts in order to develop spiritually and help others in their spiritual development, to apply the appropriate passages and messages during services and ceremonies, or for theological learning. Represent religious institution: Perform public functions as a representative of a religious institution, which strive to promote the institution and its activities and strive for accurate representation and inclusion in umbrella organisations. Build community relations: Establish affectionate and long-lasting relationships with local communities, e.g. by organising special programms for kindergarden, schools and for dissabled and older people, raising awareness and receiving community appreciation in return. Perform religious ceremonies: Perform the ritual acts and apply the traditional religious texts during ceremonial events, such as funerals, confirmation, baptism, birth rites and other religious ceremonies. Provide spiritual counselling: Assist individuals and groups seeking guidance in their religious convictions, or support in their spiritual experience, so that they are affirmed and confident in their faith. Supervise religious organisations: Supervise the operations of religious organisations such as parishes, congregations, churches, mosques, and other religious organisations and institutions to ensure that the operation is compliant with the regulations of the overarching religious system. Show empathy: Show empathy in order to prevent any kind of symbolic violence and isolation and to guarantee a considerate attention to everyone. It should include a capacity to understand various verbal and non-verbal communication of sentiment and feeling. Show intercultural awareness: Show sensibility towards cultural differences by taking actions which facilitate positive interaction between international organisations, between groups or individuals of different cultures, and to promote integration in a community. Respond to enquiries: Respond to enquiries and requests for information from other organisations and members of the public. Set organisational policies: Participate in setting organisational policies that cover issues such as participant eligibility, program requirements, and program benefits for the service users. Observe confidentiality: Observe the set of rules establishing the nondisclosure of information except to another authorised person. Handle conflicts: Mediate in conflicts and tense situations by acting between parties, such as service users, important others like families, and institutions, striving to effect an agreement, reconciliate, and resolve problems. Apply knowledge of human behaviour: Practice principles related to group behaviour, trends in society, and influence of societal dynamics. Perform religious rituals: Execute the rites and traditions which are involved in a religious service and leading communal worship. Perform debates: Construct and present arguments used in a constructive debate and discussion in order to convince the opposing party or a neutral third party of the debater’s stance. Foster dialogue in society: Foster intercultural dialogue in civil society on a variety of controversial topics such as religious and ethical issues. Prepare religious services: Perform the necessary actions for the preparation of religious services and ceremonies, such as gathering the necessary props and materials, cleaning tools, writing and practicing sermons and other speeches, and other preparation activities. Promote religious activities: Promote events, attendance to religious services and ceremonies, and the participation in religious traditions and festivities in a community in order to enhance the role religion plays in that community.
This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of minister of religion. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Christianity: The traditions, ceremonies, history and denominations of the Christian religion. Cultural customs on food preparation: Cultural or religious rules and traditions regarding the preparation of food. Arabic: The Arabic language. Islamic studies: The studies dealing with the Islamic religion, its history and texts, and the study of the theological interpretation of the Islam. Sanskrit: The Sanskrit language. Psychological counselling methods: The various psychological counselling, training and coaching methods for persons of all ages, groups and organizations considering medical aspects. Hinduism: The rites, traditions and history of the Hindu religion. Quran: The content and interpretations of the religious book of Islam. Vocal techniques: The various techniques for using your voice correctly without exhausting or damaging it when changing voice in tone and volume. Hebrew: The Hebrew language. Islam: The traditions, ceremonies and history of the Islam, as well as its current system. Latin: The Latin language. Cultural practices regarding animal slaughter: Understand cultural or religious rules and traditions regarding the slaughter of animals. Bible texts: The content and interpretations of the bible texts, its different components, the different types of Bibles, and its history. Judaism: The traditions, ceremonies and history of the Jewish religion, as well as its current system. Torah: The study of the teachings and interpretations of the foundational narrative of the Jewish people, as well as the encompassing Jewish traditions and culture.
These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of minister of religion. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.
Provide charity services: Provide services for charity causes, or perform an independent activity related to community service, such as providing food and shelter, performing fundraising activities for charitable causes, gathering support for charity, and other charitable services. Coordinate charity services: Coordinate the provision of charity services to a community or institution in need, such as the recruitment of volunteers and staff, allocation of resources, and managing the activities. Manage budgets: Plan, monitor and report on the budget. Manage volunteers: Manage volunteers’ tasks, recruitment, programmes and budgets. Liaise with local authorities: Maintain the liaison and exchange of information with regional or local authorities. Establish collaborative relations: Establish a connection between organisations or individuals which may benefit from communicating with one another in order to facilitate an enduring positive collaborative relationship between both parties. Develop policies on religion-related matters: Develop policies concerning religion-related matters such as religious freedom, the place of religion at schoo or promoting religious activities. Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff. Develop educational resources: Create and develop educational resources for visitors, school groups, families and special interest groups. Keep task records: Organise and classify records of prepared reports and correspondence related to the performed work and progress records of tasks. Perform fundraising activities: Perform activities which will raise funds for an organisation or campaign, such as speaking with the public, gathering funds during fundraising or other general events, and using online fundraising tools. Perform puja: Perform the traditional functions and ceremonial rites dealing with worship in the Hindu religion. Perform church service: Perform the rites and traditions which are involved in a church service and leading communal worship, such as giving sermons, reading psalms and scriptures, singing hymns, performing eucharist, and other rites. Assist missionary work: Assist in the tasks fulfilled by missionaries, such as improving health care, education, spiritual guidance, literacy, social justice, and other charitable tasks, in a specific area, in order to spread spiritual messages and also to provide aid where possible. Ordain religious officials: Perform the rites and ceremonies which officially appoint an individual to an official religious function such as priest, bishop or deacon, having the authority to do so, according to traditions and regulations. Conduct educational activities: Plan, perform and supervise educational activities for a variety of audiences, such as for school children, university students, specialist groups, or members of the public. Memorise script: Memorise a set of lines or specific information in order to convey it correctly to a target audience. Mentor individuals: Mentor individuals by providing emotional support, sharing experiences and giving advice to the individual to help them in their personal development, as well as adapting the support to the specific needs of the individual and heeding their requests and expectations. Perform ritual cleaning activities: Clean equipment and tools according to set traditions and rites, handling the materials as prescribed. Participate in rabbinical court proceedings: Participate in proceedings of the Beth Din, a rabbinical court having authority over such matters as divorce, adoption, conversion and other communal ecclesiastical matters. With the consent of both parties, it may also try civil disputes. Ensure cross-department cooperation: Guarantee communication and cooperation with all the entities and teams in a given organisation, according to the company strategy. Manage fundraising activities: Initiate fundraising activities managing the place, teams involved, causes and budgets. Develop professional network: Reach out to and meet up with people in a professional context. Find common ground and use your contacts for mutual benefit. Keep track of the people in your personal professional network and stay up to date on their activities. Teach religious texts: Teach the content and interpretation methods of religious texts in order to facilitate spiritual or theological learning. Sing: Use the voice to produce musical sounds, marked by tone and rhythm. Guide conversion: Guide individuals who wish to change their faith in the processes related to the conversion to a particular religion, in their religious development on their new religious path, and performing the conversion itself. Practise singing: Study and practise lyrics, melody, and rhythm of songs. Reinforce positive behaviour: Reinforce positive behaviour in people during rehabilitation and counseling activities, to ensure that the person takes the necessary actions for positive results in a positive manner, so that they remain encouraged to continue their efforts and reach goals. Support volunteers: Follow up volunteer activity. Assist in church service: Assist the priest or other religious official in the activities performed during a church service, such as assistance in handling and cleaning materials, assisting in performing ceremonial rites, and other church service activities. Officiate weddings: Officiate weddings in a manner compliant to traditional and legal regulations, and to the couple’s wishes, ensuring that it is official by providing the necessary documentation and witnessing its signing, fulfilling the role of officiator. Train religious professionals: Train individuals working or aspiring to work in religious professions in their duties, such as preaching methods, interpretation of religious texts, leading of prayers and other worship activities, and other religious activities relating to that profession. Ensure that the students will perform their function in a manner compliant with the religious organisation they belong to. Conduct public presentations: Speak in public and interact with those present. Prepare notices, plans, charts, and other information to support the presentation.
