Clergy
Members of the clergy provide spiritual motivation and guidance, conduct worship according to the form of service of a particular faith/denomination and perform related functions associated with religious beliefs and practices.
- Employees (UK)
- 41k
- Median annual pay
- £30,655
- Exposure score ?
- 1.8/10 Minimal 5.8/10 Moderate strict reading, with tools is 5.8/10 with-tools reading, strict is 1.8/10
- Wage exposure
- £226m £729m
Higher exposure than 77% of the 379 UK occupations we scored.
What this score means.
Most of this role's work is still hard for AI: physical presence, practised skill, judgement in context and direct care, the things that do not turn into text.
If you are in this role
Nothing here is under pressure today, but the frontier moves. Learn enough to direct AI at the paperwork around the job. People in hands-on roles who can do that become unusually useful inside their organisations.
A real share of the task list is within reach, especially drafting, summarising, research and analysis. People in this role who learn to direct AI well will pull ahead of those who do not.
If you are in this role
Treat AI like a capable junior you manage. Where you would hand a task to a junior with a clear brief, AI can do it now. Spend the time you get back on judgement and relationships.
Where the work usually starts.
These are the most important tasks a language model can already handle directly. In a typical engagement the first wins come from building workflows around them, so they stop eating the team's time.
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Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
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Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
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Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
These are the most important tasks AI can already handle when paired with the right tools and context. The first wins usually come from building workflows around them. That is the difference between a model that could do the job and one that actually does it inside your business.
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Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
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Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
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Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
Every role has three or four places like these. Finding them takes an hour. Turning them into a workflow your team actually uses takes a few days.
Every task in the role.
Every O*NET task for this occupation, split by what AI can do unaided and what still needs a person. Importance is O*NET's 1 to 5 rating of how central each task is.
Tasks via O*NET "Clergy" (21-2011.00).
What AI can already do
4 of 21 tasks, unaided
Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
Study and interpret religious laws, doctrines, or traditions.
What still needs a person
17 of 21 tasks
Pray and promote spirituality.
Organize and lead regular religious services.
Instruct people who seek conversion to a particular faith.
Counsel individuals or groups concerning their spiritual, emotional, or personal needs.
Administer religious rites or ordinances.
Prepare people for participation in religious ceremonies.
Visit people in homes, hospitals, or prisons to provide them with comfort and support.
Train leaders of church, community, or youth groups.
Plan or lead religious education programs.
Respond to requests for assistance during emergencies or crises.
Conduct special ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, or confirmations.
Devise ways in which congregational membership can be expanded.
Collaborate with committees or individuals to address financial or administrative issues pertaining to congregations.
Refer people to community support services, psychologists, or doctors.
Organize or engage in interfaith, community, civic, educational, or recreational activities sponsored by or related to religious programs.
Perform administrative duties, such as overseeing building management, ordering supplies, contracting for services or repairs, or supervising the work of staff members or volunteers.
Participate in fundraising activities to support congregational activities or facilities.
Tasks via O*NET "Clergy" (21-2011.00).
What AI can already do
10 of 21 tasks, with tools
Prepare and deliver sermons or other talks.
Read from sacred texts, such as the Bible, Torah, or Koran.
Share information about religious issues by writing articles, giving speeches, or teaching.
Plan or lead religious education programs.
Study and interpret religious laws, doctrines, or traditions.
Devise ways in which congregational membership can be expanded.
Collaborate with committees or individuals to address financial or administrative issues pertaining to congregations.
Refer people to community support services, psychologists, or doctors.
Perform administrative duties, such as overseeing building management, ordering supplies, contracting for services or repairs, or supervising the work of staff members or volunteers.
Participate in fundraising activities to support congregational activities or facilities.
What still needs a person
11 of 21 tasks
Pray and promote spirituality.
Organize and lead regular religious services.
Instruct people who seek conversion to a particular faith.
Counsel individuals or groups concerning their spiritual, emotional, or personal needs.
Administer religious rites or ordinances.
Prepare people for participation in religious ceremonies.
Visit people in homes, hospitals, or prisons to provide them with comfort and support.
Train leaders of church, community, or youth groups.
Respond to requests for assistance during emergencies or crises.
Conduct special ceremonies, such as weddings, funerals, or confirmations.
Organize or engage in interfaith, community, civic, educational, or recreational activities sponsored by or related to religious programs.
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Related occupations.
Other roles in Professional occupations, and roles close by exposure.
What it means for your sector.
This role's score comes from Eloundou et al's 2023 task labels, weighted by O*NET importance within each O*NET-SOC code, then bridged to UK SOC 2020 through ISCO-08 (the ONS coding index) and US SOC 2010 (the BLS crosswalk). Employment and median pay come from ONS ASHE Table 14.7a, 2025 provisional, which covers employees only.
Back to the mapMethodologySources (PDF)Built 29 April 2026
Pictures
- "Census pantograph and 1930s keypunches" by U.S. Census Bureau employees, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Shepard Barclay, St. Louis lawyer, in his office" by Missouri Historical Society via DPLA, no known copyright restrictions, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Accountant's Office LCCN2016824374" by National Photo Company Collection, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- "Employment service in Oulu in the spring 1931" by Finnish Heritage Agency (Museovirasto), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons