Chaplain jobs where you'll minister to those who serve Religion
What a spirit-lifting and awe-inspiring path to choose – a religious career in America’s Navy. Regardless of the various denominations, theologies and religions, you’ll provide guidance and spiritual leadership to the men and women who sacrifice so much to do good for so many.
Whether you’re the Chaplain performing religious ceremonies or a Religious Specialist assisting clergy with religious activities, the Navy offers many different career paths within the religion career field. Interact with those from a variety of faith groups and cultures. Counsel those who grieve. Share your kindness and compassion. As part of the Navy clergy, the opportunities are many. And so are the rewards.
Job Description
Religious Specialist
If your life has led you to take this path of providing spiritual care for all people, you’ll find a job in the Navy’s religious field to be both gratifying and rewarding. In addition to offering personal protection and security for Navy Chaplains, your day is filled with opportunities to positively impact many people. From developing programs that meet the needs of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard members and their families to providing moral, spiritual and emotional support and guidance for Sailors throughout the fleet, you’re there to walk side-by-side with those on their journey of faith.
Chaplain
To whom do Sailors turn when they are struggling with personal issues or searching for answers at crucial moments in their lives? When Sailors are on base away from their families or are hundreds of miles out to sea, their Chaplain meets their spiritual and emotional needs. In the Navy Chaplain Corps, you’ll provide moral support for young people away from home for the first time, lend advice to those facing personal or emotional difficulties and provide spiritual assistance to people from all denominations and walks of life.
Specific Responsibilities
Religious Specialist
Work independently and alongside Navy clergy in your goal to establish a supportive, nonjudgmental and uplifting work environment. Help set a positive tone. Empower individuals to discover their inner strengths and moral standards.
As a Religious Specialist in the U.S. Navy, you may also be expected to:
- Support clergy of all faiths and set up religious activities
- Maintain records, ecclesiastical documents and references for various faith groups
- Operate, manage and maintain religious ministry facilities afloat and ashore
- Assist in the preparation of devotional and religious educational materials and audiovisual displays
Chaplain
The Navy Chaplain can be the first person Sailors turn to in times of need as well as their source for spiritual enlightenment and salvation. Your job involves guiding people through some of their most joyful moments to their most personally challenging, and includes these responsibilities:
- Conduct worship services in a variety of settings
- Perform religious rites and ceremonies such as weddings and funeral services
- Counsel individuals who seek guidance
- Oversee religious education programs, such as Sunday school and youth groups
- Visit and provide spiritual guidance and care to hospitalized personnel and/or their family members
- Train lay leaders who conduct religious education programs
- Promote attendance at religious services, retreats and conferences
Work Environment
Religious Specialist
Your life of serving others could take you from creating worship booklets for Sunday mass at a Naval base chapel to counseling Marines in the field to leading a prayer vigil aboard a ship. Each day presents a different challenge and a new opportunity to provide spiritual support and guidance to those whom you are ministering. And because your religious career is with the U.S. Navy, there’s always the possibility of traveling the world.
Chaplain
Fulfill your higher calling from land or at sea. Whether you’re presiding over a religious ceremony on base or conducting services from the flight deck of an aircraft carrier, your job as Navy Chaplain may be anywhere in the world.
Training, Education & Advancement
Religious Specialist
Not only will you become familiar with religious studies, your training could earn you credit hours for a vocational certificate or a bachelor’s or associate degree.
Chaplain
To become a Navy Chaplain, those who meet the qualifications attend Navy Chaplain School in Fort Jackson, South Carolina, for a basic orientation course before receiving job placement.
For seminary students interested in being commissioned as Navy Chaplain before completing their graduate studies, the Navy offers the Chaplain Candidate Program Officer (CCPO) Program. Completing this program qualifies you for significant pay advantages once you enter Active Duty. You’ll also receive on-the-job training under the direct supervision of an Active Duty Chaplain.
Beyond that, you can continue your education throughout your Navy Chaplain employment. Attend one of the military service colleges or earn a master’s or doctoral degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, while being paid full time as a Naval Officer. You may participate in clinical pastoral education and receive tuition assistance for other off-duty educational programs.
Qualifications
Religious Specialist
No college degree is required – just a strong desire to answer one of life’s blessed callings.
Chaplain
A Navy Chaplain must:
- Be a U.S. citizen at least 21 years of age
- Meet certain medical and physical fitness standards
- Hold a BA or BS degree with not less than 120 semester hours from a qualified educational institution; and hold a post-baccalaureate graduate degree, which includes 72 semester hours of graduate-level course work in theological or related studies. At least half of these hours must include topics in general religion, theology, religious philosophy, ethics and/or the foundational writings from one’s religious tradition.
After the Navy
Religious Specialist
Performing religious services and providing personal protection and security for Navy Chaplains qualifies you for religious and administrative positions in the civilian world.
Chaplain
The full scope of ministry you’ll practice in the Navy prepares you for religious and administrative positions elsewhere. You’ll meet people and travel to places that will stay in your memory, and in your heart, for a lifetime.
