Ask almost any church leader about their hardest open role, and you’ll hear the same answer more and more often: the children’s pastor. Children’s ministry jobs are sitting open for months, search committees are coming up empty, and qualified kids ministry leaders are getting multiple offers. If it feels harder than it used to be to hire in kidmin, you’re not imagining it.

Here’s why the children’s ministry hiring crunch is real — and what churches can actually do about it.

The shortage is real

A few forces have collided at once:

• Fewer people are entering vocational kids ministry. Children’s ministry has long been treated as an entry-level stepping stone rather than a calling worth a career. That pipeline has thinned.
• The role keeps expanding. Today’s children’s pastor is expected to lead volunteers, build curriculum, run check-in tech, manage safety and background-check policy, disciple families, and be great with kids.
• Burnout and turnover. The pandemic years were brutal on family ministry staff. Many experienced kids pastors stepped away, shrinking the pool of seasoned candidates.
• Geography. Smaller and rural churches struggle most — the candidates exist, but they’re clustered around larger metros.

The result: open children’s ministry jobs outnumber the people actively looking to fill them, and the strongest candidates move fast.

What churches get wrong when hiring a children’s pastor

• Waiting too long to post. The best candidates are often already serving somewhere. If you only start looking when the role is vacant, you’re already behind.
• A vague job description. “Loves kids and Jesus” doesn’t help anyone self-select. Spell out the team size, weekend expectations, curriculum role, and reporting line.
• Underpaying for the weight of the role. If you want a leader, not a babysitter, the compensation has to reflect leadership.
• Only fishing in your own pond. Your congregation and personal network are too small a pool for a hard-to-fill role.

How to actually find the right kids pastor

1. Define the role honestly first. Decide whether you need a director, a pastor, or a coordinator, and write a description that reflects real expectations.
2. Prioritize character and leadership over flash. A great children’s pastor builds and keeps a volunteer team — that’s the skill that compounds.
3. Post where ministry leaders actually look. General job boards bury ministry roles. A dedicated board puts your opening in front of the right people — you can list a role on the Ministry Boost church job board, which is built specifically for church and kids ministry hiring.
4. Move quickly once you find someone. In a candidate’s market, a slow process loses the best people.
5. Grow your own. The long-term fix is raising up the next generation of kids ministry leaders from inside your own volunteer team.

The bottom line

Children’s ministry jobs are hard to fill because we’re short on kids pastors, the role has grown heavier, and the best candidates have options. Churches that win the search define the role clearly, pay it like leadership, move fast, and cast a wide net.

If your church is hiring — or you’re a kids ministry leader looking for your next calling — browse current openings on the Ministry Boost church job board. It’s where churches and children’s ministry leaders are finding each other.