Pastor Role

[Listen to a message concerning the role of Pastor]

Scripture defines Pastors as a plurality of teaching, protective leaders. Let’s look at each facet.

Pastors function in the plural. In other words, the Bible only addresses pastors in the plural (see the list of verses below). We don’t believe having one pastor is the wisest way to proceed, although it can be a necessity for a short while.

Pastors teach the church (1 Tim 5:17). Although the church shares responsibility in protecting gospel purity (see Gal 1:6-9), Pastors should “labor in preaching and teaching” the way of Jesus both in word and deed.

Pastors protect the church from false teachers (Acts 20:17, 28-31). Every church member should guard themselves and others against false teaching. Yet Pastors carry the burden and authority of stopping “fierce wolves” from polluting the church.

Pastors lead the church (1 Pet 5:1-2). Some can take this to mean Pastors make every decision for the whole church. Not at all! Rather, Pastors are charged with discerning the importance of issues, communicating with the Deacons, making decisions accordingly, and bringing matters before the church when appropriate.

Biblical uses of “pastors” with the Greek stems to show they are synonyms (presb. is “elder,” episk. is “bishop,” poim. is “pastor”):

Acts 11:30 - pastors (presb.) at the church of Antioch

Acts 14:23 - Paul and Barnabas appoint pastors (presb.) in every church

Acts 15 (multiple); 16:4 - pastors (presb.) at the church in Jerusalem

Acts 20:17, 28-29 - pastors (presb.) at the church of Ephesus have been made shepherds (poim.) and overseers (episk.)

Acts 21:18 - pastors (presb.) at the church in Jerusalem

Philippians 1:1 - the church at Philippi has pastors (episk.) and deacons

1 Timothy 5:17 - pastors (presb.) at the church of Ephesus

Titus 1:5 - appoint pastors (presb.) in every town

James 5:14 - pastors (presb.) of the church

1 Peter 5:1-2 - the pastors (presb.) among you should shepherd (poim.) and exercise oversight (episk.)

Two potential exceptions exist. The first is 2 John 1 and 3 John 1, which have “the elder” (presb.) describing the author, but could easily be translated as “old man” as in Acts 2:17. The other exception is in 1 Tim 3:2, where “pastor” is singular, while “deacons” are plural in 3:8. In this case, it’s likely generic (like “woman” in 1 Tim 2:11-12 where he’s referring to “women” via 2:9). The only lesser exception is Rev. 2-3, where each church has one messenger (angellos). For further reading see Daniel B. Wallace, “Who Should Run the Church? A Case for the Plurality of Elders”