Clergy Conduct religious worship and perform other spiritual functions associated with beliefs and practices of religious faith or denomination. Provide spiritual and moral guidance and assistance to members.
Clergy is Also Know as
In different settings, Clergy is titled as
- Bishop
- Catholic Priest
- Children's Minister
- Confessor
- Congregational Care Pastor
- Minister
- Pastor
- Priest
- Rector
- Worship Pastor
Education and Training of Clergy
Clergy is categorized in Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
Experience Required for Clergy
Extensive skill, knowledge, and experience are needed for these occupations. Many require more than five years of experience. For example, surgeons must complete four years of college and an additional five to seven years of specialized medical training to be able to do their job.
Education Required for Clergy
Most of these occupations require graduate school. For example, they may require a master's degree, and some require a Ph.D., M.D., or J.D. (law degree).
Degrees Related to Clergy
- Bachelor in Theology/Theological Studies
- Associate Degree Courses in Theology/Theological Studies
- Masters Degree Courses in Theology/Theological Studies
- Bachelor in Divinity/Ministry
- Associate Degree Courses in Divinity/Ministry
- Masters Degree Courses in Divinity/Ministry
- Bachelor in Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministerial Studies
- Associate Degree Courses in Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministerial Studies
- Masters Degree Courses in Pre-Theology/Pre-Ministerial Studies
- Bachelor in Rabbinical Studies
- Associate Degree Courses in Rabbinical Studies
- Masters Degree Courses in Rabbinical Studies
- Bachelor in Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other
- Associate Degree Courses in Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other
- Masters Degree Courses in Theological and Ministerial Studies, Other
- Bachelor in Pastoral Studies/Counseling
- Associate Degree Courses in Pastoral Studies/Counseling
- Masters Degree Courses in Pastoral Studies/Counseling
Training Required for Clergy
Employees may need some on-the-job training, but most of these occupations assume that the person will already have the required skills, knowledge, work-related experience, and/or training.
Related Ocuupations
Some Ocuupations related to Clergy in different industries are
- Directors, Religious Activities and Education
- Child, Family, and School Social Workers
- Philosophy and Religion Teachers, Postsecondary
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
- Social and Human Service Assistants
- Healthcare Social Workers
- Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
- Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
- Community Health Workers
- Education Teachers, Postsecondary
- Social and Community Service Managers
- Education Administrators, Postsecondary
- Mental Health Counselors
- Rehabilitation Counselors
- Residential Advisors
- Social Work Teachers, Postsecondary
- Health Education Specialists
- Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
- Legislators
What Do Clergy do?
- Pray and promote spirituality.
- Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
- Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
- Organize and lead regular religious services.
- Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
- Instruct people who seek conversion to a particular faith.
- Counsel individuals or groups concerning their spiritual, emotional, or personal needs.
- Visit people in homes, hospitals, or prisons to provide them with comfort and support.
- Train leaders of church, community, or youth groups.
- Administer religious rites or ordinances.
- Study and interpret religious laws, doctrines, or traditions.
- Conduct special ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, or confirmations.
- Respond to requests for assistance during emergencies or crises.
- Devise ways in which congregational membership can be expanded.
- Collaborate with committees or individuals to address financial or administrative issues pertaining to congregations.
- Prepare people for participation in religious ceremonies.
- Perform administrative duties, such as overseeing building management, ordering supplies, contracting for services or repairs, or supervising the work of staff members or volunteers.
- Refer people to community support services, psychologists, or doctors.
- Participate in fundraising activities to support congregational activities or facilities.
- Plan or lead religious education programs.
- Organize or engage in interfaith, community, civic, educational, or recreational activities sponsored by or related to religious programs.
Qualities of Good Clergy
- Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
- Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
- Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
- Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
- Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
- Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
- Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
- Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
- Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
- Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
- Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
- Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
- Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
- Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
- Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
- Memorization: The ability to remember information such as words, numbers, pictures, and procedures.
- Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
- Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
- Time Sharing: The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
- Speed of Closure: The ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
- Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
- Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
- Auditory Attention: The ability to focus on a single source of sound in the presence of other distracting sounds.
- Visual Color Discrimination: The ability to match or detect differences between colors, including shades of color and brightness.
- Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
- Hearing Sensitivity: The ability to detect or tell the differences between sounds that vary in pitch and loudness.
- Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
- Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
- Wrist-Finger Speed: The ability to make fast, simple, repeated movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.
- Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
- Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
- Multilimb Coordination: The ability to coordinate two or more limbs (for example, two arms, two legs, or one leg and one arm) while sitting, standing, or lying down. It does not involve performing the activities while the whole body is in motion.
- Spatial Orientation: The ability to know your location in relation to the environment or to know where other objects are in relation to you.
- Rate Control: The ability to time your movements or the movement of a piece of equipment in anticipation of changes in the speed and/or direction of a moving object or scene.
- Sound Localization: The ability to tell the direction from which a sound originated.
- Control Precision: The ability to quickly and repeatedly adjust the controls of a machine or a vehicle to exact positions.
- Glare Sensitivity: The ability to see objects in the presence of a glare or bright lighting.
- Depth Perception: The ability to judge which of several objects is closer or farther away from you, or to judge the distance between you and an object.
- Peripheral Vision: The ability to see objects or movement of objects to one's side when the eyes are looking ahead.
- Night Vision: The ability to see under low-light conditions.
- Response Orientation: The ability to choose quickly between two or more movements in response to two or more different signals (lights, sounds, pictures). It includes the speed with which the correct response is started with the hand, foot, or other body part.
- Speed of Limb Movement: The ability to quickly move the arms and legs.
- Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
- Gross Body Equilibrium: The ability to keep or regain your body balance or stay upright when in an unstable position.
- Gross Body Coordination: The ability to coordinate the movement of your arms, legs, and torso together when the whole body is in motion.
- Dynamic Flexibility: The ability to quickly and repeatedly bend, stretch, twist, or reach out with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Extent Flexibility: The ability to bend, stretch, twist, or reach with your body, arms, and/or legs.
- Stamina: The ability to exert yourself physically over long periods of time without getting winded or out of breath.
- Reaction Time: The ability to quickly respond (with the hand, finger, or foot) to a signal (sound, light, picture) when it appears.
- Dynamic Strength: The ability to exert muscle force repeatedly or continuously over time. This involves muscular endurance and resistance to muscle fatigue.
- Explosive Strength: The ability to use short bursts of muscle force to propel oneself (as in jumping or sprinting), or to throw an object.
- Static Strength: The ability to exert maximum muscle force to lift, push, pull, or carry objects.
Tools Used by Clergy
- Cordless microphones
- Desktop computers
- Laptop computers
- Multiline telephone systems
- Multimedia presentation projectors
- Passenger vehicles
- Tablet computers
Technology Skills required for Clergy
- Email software
- Event scheduling software
- GroupMe
- Membership databases
- Microsoft Excel
- Microsoft Office software
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Web browser software