[Responsibility2nd]

Putting it simply; Pastors are Elders. Or Shepherds, Presbyters, Bishops, Overseers, and etc.

Two verses to consider.

I Timothy 3:1-7 and
Titus 1:5-9

Scriptural terms misused by denominations: Titus 2:1

Applying “pastor” as a synonym for the pulpit preacher. All pastors are pulpit preachers, but not all preachers are pastors.

Applying “pastor” “Elder” or “Bishop” to any women. Women are forbidden to be such: 1 Tim 2:12

Applying “pastor” to any young man, any single man, or a married man who has no children, or a married man whose children are not faithful in Christ

Applying “evangelist” exclusively to pulpit preachers who preach in different churches every Sunday, while refusing to call a “located preacher” an “evangelist” because he preaches in the same church every Sunday. The terms, evangelist, preacher and minister are interchangeable terms and the Bible makes no distinction as to whether the minister is located or moving around from week to week.

Applying “elder” to any young man, as Mormon missionaries insist they be called as they go door to door. Such a term applied to a young man is a violation of common sense.

more....

http://www.bible.ca/ntx-elders-pastors-bishops.htm

[raygunfan]

from what i can tell, a ‘pastor centered’ church, i.e. protestant (in all its hundreds of denominations) all rely on the bible and the pastor who is ‘calling the signals’.

the congregants rely on that pastor, and his/her interpretation of whetever verse(s) tickles their fancy that day......

that can only lead to it being pastor centered.....there is nothing else left.....

[IbJensen]

Building His Church on earth upon Peter and telling the disciples ‘Whatever you loosen on earth will be loosened in Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven’ gave that first leader, as well as his successors, carte blanche to design a liturgy.

With a blossoming Church priests or little Christs were needed to speak the liturgy and to serve as a stand-in for Jesus to forgive sins and advise congregants.

[Vigilanteman]

I can find only one mention of Pastors in the New Testament: St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, Chapter 4, verse 11. The mention is a neutral mention as an office.

The prophet Jeremiah, on the other hand, mentions Pastor or Pastors at least eight times by my count-- one of which is positive, one is neutral and eight are negative or warning.

In general, I see most organized religion as businesses, many in direct competition with each other. But all (with a handful of exceptions) doing a better job than the big government nanny alternative.

[Tempest]

Amen.

Because we want a king to rule over us whose a man and not a God...

[count-your-change]

There is no clergy class or special group set aside as priests in the Christian church. Those that were called elders or overseers were servants to the congregations scattered about not overlords or intermediaries between the members and God.

The priestly class with its special garb and titles is so obviously contrary to Jesus example and teaching that it cannot be called Christian.

[Melchior]

By the second century AD we know of travelling teachers like Valentinius and Lucian who visited the Roman provinces and created the organizations that led to the founding of churches. Justin Martyr was among the most famous early Chnristians and he attracted many students who would themselves one day become “pastors”. Most importantly, by the time of Justin Martyr’s death in 165 AD the Church polity, like communion and baptism, were fully developed. At Church gatherings the congregation heard a portion of the scripture read by a Church leader. Then the same leader, or someone else who Justin called a “Ruler”, sermonized, and led the congregation in prayer which was held standing. By the third century it is posited that a Christian could travel throughout the Roman Empire and wherever a Church was present he or she could expect to find a certain familiar formality with a pastor leading his congregation.

[CodeToad]

Obviously somebody that doesn’t know what a pastor is.

[dartuser]

And as I survey the NT instructions in Acts, I & II Timothy, Titus, I & II Peter concerning elders (pastor, shepherd, bishop, etc.) ... I ask myself ... "What theological problem in NT exegetical studies is this guy attempting to solve?"

[AnneM62]

http://scripturecatholic.com/the_church.html#the_church-VI

Scripture - click on above link for where one can find the following topics with scripture references in the bible as well as what the early church fathers taught:

Peter is the Rock on which the Church is Built
Peter has the Keys of Authority over the Earthly Kingdom, the Church
Peter’s Keys and Papal Succession
The Church is Infallible and Supernatural
The Church is Visible and One
The Church is Hierarchical
Controversies in the Church

Tradition / Church Fathers
Peter is the Rock on which the Church is Built
The Church is called “Catholic”
The Church is Indefectible
The Church’s Ecumenical Councils are Infallible
The Church is Hierarchical (Bishops, Priests and Deacons)
The Church is Visible and One

[Salvation]

Perhaps you have missed the post I post every day. Jesus, High Priest

 

Jesus, High Priest

 

We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry.

Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf: Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love.

Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit.

Lead them to new depths of union with your Son.

Increase in them profound faith in the Sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your word and follow your will.

O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones, so dear to the Heart of your Son.

Intercede for our priests, that offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Saint John Vianney, universal patron of priests, pray for us and our priests

This icon shows Jesus Christ, our eternal high priest.

The gold pelican over His heart represents self-sacrifice.

The border contains an altar and grapevines, representing the Mass, and icons of Melchizedek and St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney.

Melchizedek: king of righteousness (left icon) was priest and king of Jerusalem.  He blessed Abraham and has been considered an ideal priest-king.

St. Jean-Baptiste Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests.

[strongbow]

Here’s a clue. If a church has a billboard ad on the side of the road which features a huge glamor shot of the preacher and preacheress, it’s pastor centered.

[papertyger]

Because Christ ordained Believers to administration of the Church, not the Bible.

The author’s premise is as goofy as 300 million Americans all claiming to live by the Constitution without submitting to the institutions that Constitution provides for...

[LetMarch]

Thanks for your article. It makes me recall going to an open campus day (back in 1991) with our senior high daughter, along with one of her older brothers,26 at the time, came home because he wanted to check out all at the Bible College also.

To cut to the chase, as they say, the president spoke that AM and he said: “The pastor is the central focus of the church.”

I wanted to go up later and challenge him, but it seemed the Lord blocked me with this: “You cannot tell him, I’m still trying to tell him; “Christ is the all in all focus of the Church, His Church.”

I also recall; we are all naked before our Lord. (Hebrews 4:13)

As I under it, there is no Clergy nor laity in our Lord’s church. As one brother in Christ I know was asked; “Oh, you are with brethren that do not believe in the clergy?” He answered, “Oh, we believe in the clergy, we just don’t believe in the laity.”

P.S. Our daughter and son, chose not to attend that Bible College!

[vanilla swirl]

None of us are doing it like it was intended. Pagan Christianity.

[vanilla swirl]

None of us are doing it like it was intended. Pagan Christianity.

[Salvation]

This is one other thing that is good about the Catholic Church — you belong within the boundaries of a parish and you stay there even when the priest moves on to another assigment.

Some people do go church-hopping (that’s what we call it) to follow a pastor or find a pastor they like more.

But all in all —

Catholics are in church for two things.

1. The Liturgy of the Word — directly from the Bible (what is posted daily)

2. The Liturgy of the Eucharist — totally centered on the Body and Blood of Christ.

The priest does not have the larger responsibilities that a protestant preacher might have in keeping a Congregation together.

The priest is there for two purposes:

1. To proclaim the Gospel — and preach (Liturgy of the Word)

2. To perform the Sacraments — the Liturgy of the Eucharist.

(Yes, other Sacraments may be offered other than the Eucharist.) There are often Baptisms, ALWAYS Confession, the Sacrament of Reconciliation. I every witnessed a priest giving the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick when someone had a stroke during Mass — of course, he then went back to the Mass when the ambulance came.

[Jmouse007]

The author's leading premise: "The early church DID NOT HAVE IT (single pastors of individual churches). None of the apostles ever held the job. IN FACT, IT APPEARS NOWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT." (Emphasis added) is patently false and totally unbiblical.

To say that the Bible does not focus on pastors i.e., the church having a single pastor or a lead pastor, or that " IT APPEARS NOWHERE IN THE NEW TESTAMENT", is nothing short of ridiculous and unbiblical. It is obvious from the book of Revelation that our Lord Jesus Christ has great concern for HIS CHURCH and recognized and supported the principle of single or lead pastors of a local church body as being both necessary and biblical when we read the following:

"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS;

AND IN THE MIDDLE OF THE LAMPSTANDS I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash." (Revelation 1:12-13, NASB Emphasis Added)

"In His RIGHT HAND HE HELD SEVEN STARS" (Revelation 1:16a, NASB Emphasis Added)

Who are these "seven stars" and what are the "seven lampstands"? God's Word tells us exactly what they are by interpreting them for us:

"As for the mystery of the SEVEN STARS which you saw IN MY RIGHT HAND, and the seven golden lampstands: THE SEVEN STARS ARE THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES, and the SEVEN LAMPSTANDS ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES." (Revelation 1:20, NASB Emphasis Added)

When the Apostle John sees the Lord Jesus Christ he sees Him in the middle of the seven individual churches. His care and concern for them is so great that He also has the SEVEN ANGELS i.e., the seven PASTORS of those seven churches IN HIS HAND! Angel" here is the Greek word "angalos" and it means "messenger". Note, the scripture does not say Jesus had 14, 21, 28 or a lot of "stars" in His hand it says He just had SEVEN =ONE angel for each of the seven churches.

It is obvious that the reference here to "ANGEL" is to the lead or single pastor of each of these seven churches and is not a reference to spirit beings known as angels. This is easy to interpret because in all seven letters to the seven churches found in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 each letter is specifically written and addressed: "To THE ANGEL (either single or head) of the church of... write" 2:1, 8, 12, 18, 3:1, 7, 14 (Revelation, NASB Emphasis Added)

Not only were these pastors ("angels") to receive these letters, they had a direct responsibility, as "messengers of God", to read these letters to their congregations who in turn had an obligation to "hear" (listen to what was being aid to them and apply it to their lives) what was being said to them by these individual "stars", "angels", pastors who were to read these letters, and in point of fact the entire book of Revelation, to their respective congregations:

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 19, 3:6, 13, 22.

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book;

and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. (Revelation 22:18-19, NASB Emphasis Added)

While God's Word teaches the priesthood of the believer, it also clearly teaches the biblical role and office of pastor/elder/bishop. It is clear from Revelation that individual pastors of individual churches are both biblical, foundational and clearly evident in the New Testament and within the early church.

[blue-duncan]

1 Peter 5 says that the leaders of the churches are “Pastors”; Jesus being the “Chief Pastor”. Pastor is just the Latin word for shepherd.

[xzins]

Really shoddy scholarship represented in this article. I have no desire to elevate the idea of a dictator pastor or of pastor devotion, but one must admit that those are extremes. Pastor, properly understood is a legitimate position in the New Testament, and increasingly so as 1st era Christianity moved outward into the world.

Pastor is in the list of “gifts” in 1 Co 12 & 14. Elders were to be appointed in all the churches. The elders, pastors, overseers, were interchangeable terms.

Paul says that the ox shouldn’t be muzzled. Why and in what context?

Paul says that he refused payment when, in reality, it was due him. In that early church he didn’t want anyone to get the impression he was preaching the gospel for financial gain.