Faith-based selection protocols: STEP 1 – Defining Faith Requirements

The first step is to identify the positions for which a faith requirements may be appropriate.  This may vary widely, even among Catholic organizations.  Some Pastors might require their Music Director to be Catholic, while others might just require membership in a liturgical church (e.g. Lutheran or Episcopalian).  Some Bishops might want all teachers in diocesan schools to be Catholic, while others might believe there can be exceptions to that rule.  Exceptions to faith requirements become even more common when we look at employees at Catholic Charities organizations. Nevertheless, the HR Department should review all job titles to identify which ones will have faith requirements and then structure the job description accordingly.  You can see illustrations of the three-pronged approach we recommend for job descriptions here.