Spiritual Jobs
The U.S. Department of Labor classifies religious and spiritual jobs as fields that have not been extensively documented or studied. This is perhaps because there are so many different areas of spirituality in which a person can work, or because the nature of the work can be unpredictable. According to researchers at Adherents.com, there are currently 22 dominant world religions with 500,000 or more followers. These religions include thousands of subsets, denominations and variations of belief and comprise billions of people. With worship centers and temples to operate and supply, as well as religious messages to disseminate, spiritual jobs abound.
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Clergy
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Clergy write, coordinate and deliver spiritual services, such as sermons, guided meditations and reading of sacred or holy documents. These are your church and temple leaders, your gurus, your rabbis, your priests and so on. They can work alone or as part of a team to deliver service. In addition, they provide advice and spiritual counseling, perform marriage ceremonies and attend to religious ceremonies like baptisms or circumcisions. They're usually one of the chief decision makers for their particular following. Some positions are hierarchical, like Catholic priests, and some clergy are just community members who are dedicated to their practice. Most major religions offer schooling for their clergy, like seminary for Christians.
Chaplains
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Chaplains offer portable or traveling religious services to those in need. They primarily work in hospitals, where they provide spiritual services and counseling for families in crisis or to individuals who are sick or dying. There's also a large subset of chaplains in the military who play similar roles to hospital chaplains but who also lead church services, religious study or prayer groups in remote areas.
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Teachers, Professors and Religious Scholars
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Teachers, professors and religious scholars carry on spiritual traditions in schools, colleges and religious study institutions. Their work is varied and can range from teaching a sixth grade religion class at a Catholic school to researching and interpreting ancient religious documents for museums. These workers train future religious leaders and scholars and raise children to know their spiritual practices from a young age.
Life Coach or Guru
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Life coaches or gurus are spiritual leaders who work one on one or with thousands of students at a time to change their lives for the better. Gurus, for example, can have thousands of devotees who they instruct on how to live a spiritual path. They may teach meditation, chanting, mantras, diet, life philosophies, spiritual teachings or any tenet of their specific practice. Life coaches in particular help people incorporate spirituality into all aspects of their busy lives. Gurus may focus more on slowing down those busy lives and looking within.
Human Services
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Because most religions believe in some form of service, religious and spiritual organizations have a long legacy of charity and human service work. People who wish to work in these fields have a variety of career options. Social service organizations may employ social workers, chaplains, counselors, grant writers, accountants, administrative assistants, nurses, doctors and any number of support positions to run their operations. Missionary work, adoption services, case management, charities, hospitals and foundations are a few types of services under the umbrella of religious-based human services.
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