In addition to adding 7 new positions and revising 17 out of our 18 legacy categories, ChurchSalary is organizing all 25 into a series of 8 departments.
Each of these 8 departments is designed to reflect the org charts and staff page structures we observe in the real world. While your church may not have all 8 departments or they may overlap, we believe this structure will help you better categorize your staff.
š” Pro Tip: For more information about individual positions, check out these related Help Center articles: Announcing 7 New Positions, Revising Our 18 Legacy Positions, Expanded Job Descriptions for All 25 Position Categories
The 8 ChurchSalary Departments
Only the largest churches will have all 25 positions and up to 8 different departments. But to help churches quickly categorize staff, we have grouped all of the new options into the following ministry team structure. In alphabetical order, they are:
Administration
Adults (DiscipAdministrationleship & Groups)
Children
Communications (Media, AV & Online)
Facilities
Leading/Preaching
Worship/Music
Students/College/Young Families
Administration
The Administration department contains the greatest number of positions and reflects how administrative teams typically expand as churches grow.
Positions included:
Executive Pastor or Director
Operations Director or Manager
Finance / HR Director or Manager
Administrator / Office Manager
Accountant / Bookkeeper
Administrative Assistant
Ministry Support Staff or Coordinator
Event Coordinator or Director
ChurchSalary 3.1 introduces four new administrative positions to better represent larger churches with specialized operational teams.
Within the Administration department, we have added 4 new positions to match the types of employee we are seeing hired at larger churches.
As churches continue to grow in size and complexity, they start to hire staff to handle administrative duties. As the church continues to grow the complexity of the organization demands that staff become more and more specialized. Only the largest churches will have staff that fit into all 8 positions within the Administration Department.
The Administration Department churches may evolve in the following ways as the congregations grow from a tiny handful of members to a megachurch. Note that the hierarchy at your church may vary and/or some staff may sit at the same level.
ā¹ļø Note: Only the largest churches are likely to employ all eight Administration positions. Smaller churches may combine responsibilities across several roles.
Typical Administration growth
The Administration Department churches may evolve in the following ways as the congregations grow from a tiny handful of members to a megachurch. Note that the hierarchy at your church may vary and/or some staff may sit at the same level.
Tiny | Small | Medium | Large | Mega |
Admin Asst | Administrator | Exec Pastor | Exec Pastor | Exec Pastor |
| Admin Asst | Administrator | Operations Director | Operations Director |
|
| Admin Asst | Administrator | Finance / HR Director |
|
|
| Admin Assistant | Administrator |
|
|
| Ministry Support Staff | Admin Assistant |
|
|
|
| Ministry Support Staff |
|
|
|
| Event Coordinator |
Adults (Discipleship & Groups)
Positions included
Adult Ministry Pastor or Director
Christian Education Pastor or Director
Staff who care for, disciple, educate, and minister primarily to adults fits into this department.
The general distinction between these roles revolves around education and groups.
If a pastor/director is responsible for only adult education and/or adult groups, they likely fit into the Christian Education Pastor or Director category.
If they are responsible for a specific ministry (Menās, Womenās, Congregational Care or an age demographic (Young Adults, Senior Adults, etc.) they likely fit into the Adult Ministry Pastor or Director category.
Children
Positions included
Children's Pastor or Director
Preschool or Kids Coordinator
Childcare Worker
Many churches naturally progress through several staffing stages within Children's Ministry.
Phase 1: A Preschool or Kids Coordinator leads volunteers caring for children across multiple age groups.
Phase 2: A Children's Pastor or Director is hired to oversee the entire Children's Ministry. In many churches, the existing Coordinator grows into this leadership role.
Phase 3: A team of paid staff, which the Childrenās Pastor or Director oversees, includes a mix of one or more Preschool or Kids Coordinators who help to manage and oversee volunteers and several paid Childcare Workers.
This structure provides additional leadership as children's ministries continue to grow.
Communications (Media, AV & Online)
Positions included:
Media / Tech Pastor or Director
Communications / AV Staff
This department includes employees responsible for technology, media production, livestreaming, communications, audio/visual systems, and online ministry.
Typically:
A Media / Tech Pastor or Director leads the department and supervises volunteers or staff.
Communications / AV Staff support day-to-day media production, communications, or technical operations.
Some churches may have Communications or AV staff reporting directly to another ministry leader rather than a Media Pastor.
Facilities
Positions included:
Facilities Supervisor or Manager
Custodian Worker
Recent ChurchSalary research found that many churches were using the former Maintenance / Facility Worker category to describe employees who actually supervised the entire facilities operation.
To better reflect this distinction, the Facilities Department now separates leadership from support responsibilities.
Typically:
Facilities Supervisor or Manager oversees the department and facilities operations.
Custodian Worker performs day-to-day cleaning and facility maintenance.
Leading / Preaching
Positions included:
Lead / Senior Pastor
Solo / Teaching Pastor
Associate Pastor
Campus Pastor
These positions focus primarily on preaching, vision, and overall church leadership.
This department groups together employees responsible for leading either:
The entire congregation
A specific campus
Major areas of church leadership
š” Pro Tip: To learn more about the updated Solo / Teaching Pastor category, see Revising Our 18 Legacy Positions.
Worship / Music
Positions included:
Worship / Music Pastor
Musician / Instrumentalist
This department includes employees responsible for planning and leading worship experiences.
Typically:
Worship / Music Pastors oversee worship ministries, volunteer teams, and service planning.
Musicians / Instrumentalists provide musical leadership and support during worship services.
Students / College / Young Families
Positions included:
Student / Youth Pastor or Director
NextGen Pastor or Director
As churches grow, student ministry often expands into multiple specialized ministries.
Examples include:
Middle School
High School
College
Young Adults
Young Families
Many larger churches eventually create a NextGen Pastor or Director role to oversee multiple age-specific ministries and supervise Student or Youth Pastors.
š” Pro Tip: Learn more about this leadership role in Announcing 7 New Positions.
Why organize positions into departments?
Grouping positions into departments helps churches:
Categorize staff more consistently
Better reflect their organizational structure
Select the most appropriate position when generating compensation reports
Improve benchmarking accuracy across churches of different sizes
Remember that every church is unique. These departments are intended as a helpful frameworkānot a required organizational model. When categorizing employees, focus on their primary responsibilities, reporting relationships, and leadership scope rather than their job title alone.