You're very much mistaken. They could not have been "ordained pastors" in the CoC because the CoC doesn't have "ordained pastors" or ordained anything. It's "not authorized by scripture!"
Not at all.
They could not have been "ordained pastors" in the CoC because the CoC doesn't have "ordained pastors" or ordained anything.
They do not have a rite of "ordination" like liturgical churches do, but the congregation elders do indeed formally choose pastors and give them pastoral authority in the congregation. And unless the congregation is extremely rural or old-fashioned, the elders insist on having as a pastor someone who has completed biblical studies at an institution they approve of. In the case of my s-i-l's brother, Faulkner University in Montgomery.
It's "not authorized by scripture!"
The elders and deacons theoretically use Paul's admonishment's in Timothy as their guide for selecting pastors - considering a well-educated man a man "apt to teach."