A church communications director plans what the church says and when, then makes sure it gets said well: Sunday slides, social media, email, the website, sermon series art, print, and video. Most churches also ask this person to keep one consistent look and voice, help each ministry promote its events, and lead the volunteers who pitch in. The template below covers all of that. The hard part is deciding how much of it one person can do in the hours you can pay for.
I've read a lot of these postings, and I led communications inside a church before I started Grayhaven. Here's what the good ones have in common, three decisions to make before you post, and then the template.
What a church communications director does
Church postings vary a lot in size and pay, but the duties are consistent. Here's what shows up in nearly every one, drawn from current postings at Spring Creek Church, Pathway Church in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, Hilton Head Presbyterian Church, Custer Road United Methodist Church, and First Presbyterian Church in New Bern, North Carolina:
- Strategy. A communications plan for the year, each season, and each big event, built with the pastor.
- Brand and voice. One look and one message across every channel, and the authority to redirect off-brand or badly timed requests.
- Writing. Copy for email, web, print, social, and the announcements the host reads on Sunday.
- Design. Sermon series art, slides, social graphics, and print. At many churches the director is the only designer.
- Digital channels. The website, social media accounts, the weekly email, and often a church app or push notifications.
- Video and photo. Stories, promos, and event coverage, either made or delegated.
- Ministry support. A shared calendar and a request process so every ministry gets promoted fairly.
- People. Leading staff, volunteers, and vendors. Larger churches add direct reports like a designer or a content writer.
- Sensitive messages. Drafting emergency communications and hard news with the pastor.
Two things stood out in the postings. Some churches fold in jobs that aren't communications, such as managing the membership database or covering the front office. And nearly every posting asks for a bachelor's degree or three or more years of experience, plus Canva, Adobe, a website platform, and an email tool. That's a lot of skills for one person, so the next section matters.
Three decisions to make before you post
1. How many hours is this, really?
Write down last month's communications tasks and who did them. Add up the hours. Churches of 150 to 400 often find it's 15 to 25 hours a week. If that's your number, post a part-time role, and don't list the full-time duties. Custer Road posted about 28 hours a week, and First Presbyterian in New Bern posted about 20. Both trimmed the list to fit.
2. Which two skills matter most?
Planning, writing, design, video, and websites are five different skills. You'll find people strong in two, rarely in all five. Decide which two your church can't do without and put them first in the posting. For the rest, plan to use templates, a volunteer, or outside help.
3. What's the full budget for the role?
Salary is the start. Add the employer share of payroll taxes (7.65%), any benefits, a computer, and design and video software. Postings in late 2026 range from $20,000 to $35,000 a year for about 20 hours a week to $90,000 or more at large multi-campus churches. I covered the ranges by church size in church communications director salary: what the role pays and costs, and how the whole line fits a church budget in how much should a church spend on communications.
Church communications director job description template
Copy this into your document and edit the bracketed parts. It's written for a part-time or full-time role at a church of 150 to 1,000 people. Cut what you don't need, especially if the role is under 25 hours a week.
Communications Director
[Church name], [City, State]
[Part-time, about 20 to 28 hours a week / Full-time, 40 hours a week] · [Non-exempt / Exempt]
Reports to: [Lead Pastor / Executive Pastor]
Supervises: [Communications volunteers / none / a part-time designer]
Why this role exists
[Church name] is a church of about [number] people in [city]. We want every guest to know what to expect before they arrive, and every member to know what's happening and how to take part. The Communications Director owns that: the plan, the message, and the weekly work that gets it in front of people.
What you'll do every week
- Write and design the Sunday announcement slides and the host script
- Write, design, and schedule [three] social media posts for Instagram and Facebook
- Write, design, and send the weekly church-wide email
- Keep the website current: service times, events, staff, and sermons
- Field requests from ministry leaders through one shared process
What you'll do every month and season
- Create series art, title slides, and social graphics for every sermon series
- Plan and produce the campaign for each major event: invitations, social, email, screens, and print
- Build the communications calendar each quarter with the pastor, so Easter and Christmas start six weeks out
- [Film and edit short stories of what God is doing in our church, or coordinate a volunteer or vendor to do it]
- Report briefly on what people opened, clicked, and watched, and what to change
What you'll own all year
- Our brand: one consistent look, voice, and message across every channel
- Our communications plan and the calendar every ministry works from
- Our volunteers who help with design, photography, and social media: recruiting, scheduling, and coaching
- Our accounts and tools: the website, social accounts, email platform, and templates, with logins owned by the church
- Sensitive and emergency communications, drafted with the Lead Pastor
What we're looking for
- A follower of Jesus who agrees with our statement of faith and is part of a local church
- Clear, warm writing for email, web, and social media, and the ability to edit other people's words kindly
- Strong graphic design, with Canva at minimum [and Adobe Creative Cloud preferred]
- Comfort running a website platform [name yours] and an email tool [name yours]
- Organized enough to run a calendar, a request process, and several deadlines at once
- [Video filming and editing is a plus, not a requirement]
- [Two or more years] of communications, marketing, or design experience. Church or nonprofit experience is a plus.
Hours, pay, and how to apply
[Hours per week], including [Sunday mornings / at least two weekdays in the office]. Pay is [$X to $Y per hour / $X to $Y per year], based on experience, [plus benefits / without benefits]. Send a short note about why this role interests you, a résumé, and three to five examples of your work to [email]. We'll reply to everyone who applies.
The template is free to use and edit. You don't need to credit Grayhaven Studio.
Four mistakes churches make in this posting
- Listing every skill as required. A posting that requires planning, writing, design, video, and web development at a part-time salary gets few applicants, and the ones who apply are often strong in one area and stretching on the rest.
- Leaving out the pay. Applicants skip postings without a range, and you'll spend interviews on people who can't take the job.
- Adding unrelated duties. Front desk coverage, the membership database, and tech support all take hours away from communications. If they're in the role, say so and count the hours.
- No one to report to. A communications director needs a pastor who meets with them, decides what's a priority, and backs them when a ministry leader pushes for a last-minute request.
Questions to ask in the interview
- Walk us through how you'd plan communications for Easter, starting eight weeks out.
- Here are three event requests that all came in this week. How would you decide what gets promoted where?
- Show us a piece you wrote and a piece you designed. What would you change about each now?
- A ministry leader wants a full-page announcement for a small event on Sunday. What do you say?
- What would you need from the pastor to do this job well?
If you can't fill the role
Some churches post this job, interview for months, and never find one person with every skill at the pay they can offer. That's common, and it isn't a failure. There are two other ways to fill the seat:
- Narrow the role and add templates. Hire for the two skills you need most, and give that person a brand kit and templates so the rest is easier.
- Fill it from outside your staff. A fractional communications director does the job on this page as an outside partner, for a flat monthly fee, with planning, writing, design, and video from one person. Here's how outsourcing church communications works, including what to keep at the church. You can also use a partner to cover the gap while you search.
Common questions about the job description
What does a church communications director do?
A church communications director plans what the church says and when, then produces it: Sunday slides, social media, the weekly email, the website, sermon series art, print, and video. They keep one consistent look and voice, help each ministry promote its events, and lead the volunteers who help.
What qualifications should a church communications director have?
Strong writing and graphic design are the two skills nearly every posting requires, usually with Canva and often Adobe. Most churches also ask for experience with a website platform and an email tool, two or more years in communications or design, and a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience. Church or nonprofit experience is a plus.
Should the church communications director be full-time or part-time?
Add up last month's communications hours first. Churches of 150 to 400 often have 15 to 25 hours a week of real work, which fits a part-time role. Full-time roles make sense at larger churches, or when the role includes managing staff and running a weekly email, video, and campaigns.
How much should we pay a church communications director?
Recent postings range from $20,000 to $35,000 a year for about 20 hours a week to $90,000 or more at large multi-campus churches. Most full-time roles at churches of a few hundred land between $40,000 and $60,000. Add payroll taxes and benefits to get the real cost.
Who should the communications director report to?
Usually the lead pastor or executive pastor. The role needs someone who sets priorities, meets regularly, and backs the director when a ministry leader pushes for a last-minute request.
What if we can't find one person with every skill?
That's common. Narrow the role to the two skills you need most and add templates for the rest, or fill the role from outside your staff with a fractional communications director who brings planning, writing, design, and video for a flat monthly fee.
Want this role covered without the search?
Grayhaven's packages do the job on this page as an outside partner: the weekly slides and social posts, series art, the email, and a plan every quarter, from $1,000 a month. Compare the three and see which one fits your church.
Compare the packages →Not sure yet? Start with a free communications check-up and I'll send a one-page report with three quick wins.
Sources
- Spring Creek Church: Communications Director job description
- Pathway Church, Beaver Falls, PA: Communications Director posting (EFCA job board)
- Hilton Head Presbyterian Church: Communications Director job description (2022)
- Custer Road United Methodist Church: Director of Communications, part-time (2026)
- First Presbyterian Church, New Bern: Director of Communications posting
- Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church: sample Director of Communications job description
Postings were checked on October 24, 2026. Pay figures come from the postings and from the salary article linked above.