Interesting Options for a Faith-based Career

​Many people see their faith and religion as a significant part of their lives. Some people hold them so close to their heart that they want their religion to feature in everything they do. While you can practice freely at home, you have to look for a specialized job if you want to focus on your faith as a career. There are many ways you can begin on a religious career path. They go beyond becoming a minister or another role directly involved with preaching. If you 

Photo by Waiting For The Word

​want to teach, you could work in a religious school. If you want to do charity work, you could pick a charity with your religion's values at its foundation. Here are some of your options if you want you religion to play a part in your job.

Ministry
The first career path that likely comes to mind for anyone thinking of a religious career is becoming a minister or equivalent. Many people feel that it's their calling to spread the message of their religion and the word or their god or gods. This kind of work isn't usually just giving sermons and services. It's often an important role within a community. It requires the ability to give advice and support to anyone who needs it. Many people who want to follow this path will start off by attending Bible college, perhaps attaining a ministry degree or a degree in theology. It's also possible to be ordained online.

Faith-based Media
There are many paths you can follow if you want to work for a religious employer. If you're interested in working for the media in any way, don't let a desire for a religious career put you off. There are a number of ways you can work for a faith-based organization. You could work in publication, radio, television, and more. This opens up many career paths for you, from being a radio technician to editing a newspaper or doing PR for a television station. However, you may not always be able to find a job with a faith-based employer right away. If this is something you want to do, you'll have to be prepared to work with secular organizations too.

​Religious Teaching
You might decide that you're interested in teaching either children or adults. Many faith schools ask that their staff hold the same religion. You can find elementary schools, high schools and colleges that are faith-based. If you're not interested in teaching, you could also work in an administrative role. If you're looking for an area with significant job growth, Christian pre-school teaching is on the rise. It's expected to grow faster than the average rate, so could offer great opportunities.

Counseling and Support
Many religious roles involve offering counseling and support to individuals or groups. If you want to help others, you might consider a career like this. It could be a range of roles, from school counselors and youth workers to positions in support groups for addictions and other issues.

If you want to begin a faith-based career, you have a number of options to explore. Think about what sort of work you're interested in, and see if you can apply your faith.

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by IC Contributors