Contact: Cindy Harper, Communications Coordinator, 760-940-0600

VISTA, Calif., Mar. 17 /Christian Newswire/ -- In today's unsteady economy, pastors and church leaders have not been immune to financial stress or even job loss. Ministries have stretched their budgets thin just to cover day-to-day expenses, and more and more pastors have found themselves without a pulpit all over America. With the added cost of Internet job and resume postings, searching for and filling an open ministry position can strain the finances of a candidate or ministry even further. But some organizations are trying to limit the financial stress on pastoral search committees and candidates.

This week PastorFinder.com, the fastest-growing ministry job search site on the Internet, posted its 500th ministry position, and ministry leadership candidates have posted over 2,000 active resumes on the site since its launch in 2006. PastorFinder.com offers the opportunity for pastoral and ministry candidates to post their resumes, and churches to post their open positions, on the site for free.

"PastorFinder is unique because it does not charge pastors or church leaders to post their resumes, nor does it charge churches to post job openings," says Toni Ridgaway, editor for PastorFinder.com. "The site is cross-denominational and offers positions for senior and associate pastors, worship leaders, youth and children's ministry, interns and chaplains -- virtually every major ministry area is represented on the site."

PastorFinder.com has had more than 100,000 visitors in the past year. The site serves more than 375,000 page views per month, and more than 15,000 church leaders have subscribed to their weekly newsletter, which delivers job openings and advice on pastoral job searching directly to the subscribers' e-mailbox.

Scott Evans, president of Outreach, Inc., which owns PastorFinder.com, adds, "PastorFinder.com offers churches a perfect opportunity to post their open positions without impacting their budget. It also allows ministry candidates to apply for jobs and post their resumes while alleviating some of the financial pressure a job search can bring to a pastor and his/her family. They save time, they save money, and they find jobs. It's really a great service for the pastors. Outreach wants to help the church shine bright in these tough times, and PastorFinder provides a way for both individuals and organizations to move quickly and easily through the recruitment process and get back to offering ministry to our hurting communities."

Churches and church leaders can post open positions or their resumes by clicking on http://www.pastorfinder.com. Questions or inquiries may be directed to the site's communications coordinator, Cindy Harper, at support@pastorfinder.com.