When Pastors Are Wondering What’s Next
As part of my work with Seeds and Water Collective, and helping people navigate transition, vocation, and reimagining faith, I'm the Director of Operations for https://www.ihelppastorsgetjobs.com/ with Eric Hoke.
Some pastors are not looking for another church job.
They’re tired. Wounded. Burned out. Underpaid. Overextended. Or quietly wondering if their gifts might belong somewhere outside the walls of a church.
So far this year, we’ve met with 35 pastors who are trying to discern what’s next. Some are looking for a healthier ministry role. Some are exploring the marketplace. Some are trying to recover their sense of calling after a painful season.
We’re not guessing at this work. We’ve lived it.
Eric and I bring:
1. 35+ combined years in pastoral leadership, including 20+ years in senior leadership. We know the spiritual, emotional, and vocational weight pastors carry.
2. A lot of lived transition. We’ve moved our families, started over, rebuilt community, and learned how disorienting vocational change can be. Karrie and I have lived in 18 homes in 22 years of marriage. So yes, I know a thing or two about transition.
3. Experience in ministry and the marketplace. Between the two of us, we’ve worked in pastoral ministry, sales, learning and development, nonprofit leadership, entrepreneurship, coaching, and consulting.
4. Personal experience with workplace pain. We know what it’s like to be mistreated, wounded, and forced to navigate hard decisions with wisdom, support, and appropriate counsel.
5. A deep commitment to healing, not just job placement. We both have counselors and spiritual directors. We believe vocational transition is not just about resumes and interviews. It is about grief, identity, calling, courage, and recovery.
6. A smart, honest approach to AI. We know how to maximize tools like ChatGPT and Claude, and we also know their limitations. AI can usually get a resume, cover letter, or LinkedIn profile 65–75% of the way there. But it cannot replace wisdom, strategy, discernment, personal context, or the human experience of guides who have actually made the journey.
That’s where we come in.
Eric and I know how to take something from decent to excellent. We help pastors translate their experience into language the marketplace can understand.
7. Real experience building things from scratch. If a pastor wants to start something new, build a business, launch a nonprofit, consult, coach, fundraise, or create a new pathway forward, we understand that world too. We've both done all of these.
And here’s the truth: the days of simply clicking “apply” with a good resume and cover letter are mostly over.
A better resume matters. A sharper cover letter matters. A stronger LinkedIn profile matters.
But the real work is learning how to move from endlessly scrolling job boards to actually getting into the building for an interview.
That means learning how to identify the right roles, tell your story clearly, build relationships, find decision-makers, and create opportunities instead of just waiting for someone to notice your application.
I love this work because I believe pastors have more transferable skills than they often realize.
Leadership. Communication. Conflict navigation. Teaching. Fundraising. Community building. Strategic thinking. Emotional intelligence. Care for people. Resilience.
Those things matter far beyond the church.
So if you’re a pastor wondering what’s next...or you know one who is...I’d love to connect.
You are not stuck.
And your calling is not over.