Comment by Kathy

April 23, 2008 @ 1:24 pm

I don’t know what it’s like to be a pastor, but I think it would be nice to know one’s pastor would be available and approachable for spiritual encouragement on a one-to-one basis if needed.

I think it would be nice if one’s pastor would extend pastoral care at times of difficulty such as a death in the family, a significant illness, and so on.

Comment by Brian

April 24, 2008 @ 2:34 pm

Hey Kathy! Thanks for the comment. I think spiritual encouragement is a must have. And if it can be outside the designated preaching time then so much the better.

Comment by Rey

April 24, 2008 @ 9:52 pm

Tough one to answer since I don’t think the Bible speaks of single pastors so to answer the question it makes me feel like dealing with the best of a bad situation.

That being said, I think his first goal is to bring a more Biblical focus for the church: looking into Scripture at the Gospel and its entailments in lives then subsequently the church. His goal therefore is to work himself out of the job and make sure that believers understand and grow and thus can recognize who are doing the work of elders and have them lead. The pastor then can be a pastor-elder with whichever other pastor-elders and continue doing the work of praying, teaching, and building up a future generation of men and women who can faithfully do the work that all believers have been entrusted with.

Comment by Brian

April 26, 2008 @ 1:15 am

Thanks for the comments Rey. I always appreciate what you have to say. I have to get to sleep now but I’ll be back to this sometime this weekend.

Comment by Brian

April 28, 2008 @ 3:52 pm

Rey,

I’m with you 100% about elders vs pastors. I believe the leadership of the church should be shared equally among a group of elders. But, there are other considerations as well and this is just the situation I find myself in at present.

It sounds like elders should be focused on discipling and mentoring those in the church to help them mature into leaders themselves. “Work themselves out of a job” is a good shorthand way to express this. I think I’ll probably do another post and include some of what you and Kathy have said.

Thanks!

Comment by Sherie

May 2, 2008 @ 9:36 am

Brian, I have done a lot of thinking about this as I have just made a decision to leave my church and one set of questions was around if I felt the pastor was walking out the role I believe a pastor should have.

“Pastor” is only used once in the Bible (Ephesians 4:11), but the root Greek word is poimen. That word is translated as shepherd. A shepherd is defined as: a herdsman, he to whose care and control others have committed themselves,

The tasks of a Near Eastern shepherd were: - to watch for enemies trying to attack the sheep - to defend the sheep from attackers - to heal the wounded and sick sheep - to find and save lost or trapped sheep - to love them, sharing their lives and so earning their trust.

Another key piece I believe about pastors is they should be encouraging and empowering the members of the church to step up and serve. Often American’s believe the pastors should be serving and meeting the needs of the body, but I think we have it backwards and they should be empowering us to serve and be actively involved, living out our faith.