Spiritual Advisor Job Responsibilities

By: Tonya Mead, PhD, MBA, M.Ed, Corporate Trainer and Behavioral Scientist

A spiritual advisor, pastor, shaman, priest, chaplain, or minister job responsibilities are to provide spiritual leadership, guidance and support to their community members and followers. The website Zippia forecasts that growth trends in the US for spiritual advisors, pastors, chaplains, priests, and/or ministers are expected to grow by 8% up to year 2028. The expected percentage of growth for the spiritual advisory career field means an additional 30,000 job openings!

You don’t even need to be highly educated to serve as a spiritual advisor. About 50% of the pool of spiritual advisors have a Bachelors degree while the remaining hold a Master’s degree or a two-year Associates degree.

The typical salary of a spiritual advisor working in the US is about $16 per hour or $33,500 per year. Many spiritual advisors offer spiritual advisement part time and can earn as little as less than $18,000 annually while the top 10 percent can make approximately $18,000 per year. There are several hundred thousand spiritual leaders who can earn millions per year with best selling book deals, product and image licensing, and global outreach. Think along the lines of : Deepak Chopra, Paulo Coelho, and Frank Graham, Joel Olsteen.

Spiritual Advisor Job Responsibilities

Regardless of whether a spiritual advisor, priest, chaplain, minister, pastor or shaman provides spiritual advice, leadership and support in a more formalized setting such as an ordained minister or pastor or an informal environment of a shaman; the descriptions of job responsibilities, tasks and roles do not vary greatly from the following:

Spiritual Advisor Job Responsibilities

  • Live a good life worthy of emulation
  • Teach the principles of your faith
  • Lead spiritual rituals (baptism, weddings, funerals)
  • Prepare weekly sermons
  • Deliver a spiritual address to congregants
  • Provide one-on-one and/or group spiritual guidance (Psychics also provide this service)
  • Serve as an intermediator or intercessor
  • Resolve community disputes and conflict
  • Organize community benefits and events
  • Raise money to support philanthropic pursuits
  • Oversee the administration of the church, congregation, mission, or mass

Spiritual Advisor Job Responsibilities

Some define the job responsibilities of a spiritual advisor based upon those acts that a pastor, minister, priest, shaman, pastor should refrain or avoid:

  • immoral thoughts or behavior
  • illegal or criminal acts
  • verbal, physical, child, domestic or sexual abuse
  • drug abuse
  • usury, fraud