Jobs / Education and social services / 21-2011.00
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.
- US jobs
- 57,200
- Median wage
- $60,810 a year
- Job family
- Education and social services
Can agents do the work of clergy?
We read the evidence at the level of the job family, Education and social services:
- Task levelUnexploredNo task-level benchmark in our collection tests teaching, counseling, or casework.
- Project levelPartialThin, adjacent evidence only. GDPval, which spans 44 occupations, is the one benchmark in our collection mapped here. OpenAI reports that GPT-5.5's deliverables won or tied against professionals' work in 84.9% of comparisons across all GDPval occupations. No benchmark tests work with students or clients.
Benchmarks for the job family
These cover work in education and social services, not always this occupation's tasks.
Typical tasks
From O*NET 31.0. Core tasks first. Few of these tasks have a benchmark today.
- Pray and promote spirituality.
- Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
- Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
- Organize and lead regular religious services.
- Instruct people who seek conversion to a particular faith.
- Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
- Counsel individuals or groups concerning their spiritual, emotional, or personal needs.
- Administer religious rites or ordinances.
- Prepare people for participation in religious ceremonies.
- Visit people in homes, hospitals, or prisons to provide them with comfort and support.
- Train leaders of church, community, or youth groups.
- Plan or lead religious education programs.
Other job titles for this occupation (56)
Bishop · Chaplain · Children's Minister · Imam · Minister · Pastor · Priest · Rabbi · Rector · Worship Pastor · Administrator Pastor · Brother · Campus Minister · Campus Pastor · Cantor · Catechist · Catholic Priest · Chancellor · Chaplain Resident · Children's Pastor · Church Pastor · Clergy Member · College Chaplain · Confessor · Curate · Deacon · Deaconess · Elder · Evangelist · Hebrew Cantor · Hospice Chaplain · Hospice Spiritual Care Coordinator · Hospital Chaplain · Marriage Counselor Minister · Marriage Performer · Ministry Pastor · Mohel · Ordained Minister · Parish Priest · Pastoral Associate · Pastoral Counselor · Pope · Preacher · Prefect · Presbyterian Clergy · Protestant Chaplain · Resident Chaplain · Reverend · Spiritual Care Coordinator · Spiritual Care Director · Spiritual Counselor · Vicar · Wedding Officiant · Worship Leader · Youth Minister · Youth Pastor