A staff pastor can be either the senior pastor or an associate pastor that simply has other but similar duties to that of a senior pastor.

Staff pastors are often in charge of youth ministries, teaching at marriage conferences, performing funerals and visiting the sick. Duties will vary depending on the size of any given church, but no matter what, the staff pastor is seen as someone amongst a leadership team that has authoritative decision-making ability for certain events or issues that arise.

Staff pastors preach and teach about biblical issues to church congregations as a whole or in smaller groups. The staff pastor will spend much time in sermon preparation studying biblical texts, biblical geography, politics and overall biblical culture.

Combined with scriptures on life issues, the staff pastor will attempt to make those scriptures relevant to current life issues congregants might be facing. Staff pastors may be called upon to put together teaching texts for Sunday school classes or conference events.
he staff pastor may be paired with individuals who are seeking to enter into the ministry to learn hands-on training and help those individuals develop perception into spiritual matters.