Who is the pastor of the church? The life, ministry, preaching of pastors

In the church vocabulary, a word such as the pastor is well known. As a rule, it is used for clergy, who play the role of spiritual mentors and educators of members of their community. About who the pastor is, what are his functions and what are the features of this ministry in various Christian denominations, we'll talk about this article.

Sources of the image of the pastor

In the Middle East, there is a unique shepherd tradition. Since ancient times, they herded sheep in a way different from Russian and European realities. If we are accustomed to the image of a shepherd walking behind the herd and supervising him, then in the East the guard of the flock goes ahead and calls the herd, giving his voice. Sheep distinguishes voices well and does not follow a stranger, while they unquestioningly follow the voice of their master. This image and formed the basis for the biblical image of religious shepherding. Initially, even in the Old Testament times , God was called the shepherd, and the people of Israel acted as flock.

History of the image of the pastor

Later, this analogy began to be attributed to the Old Testament priesthood, which was authorized from the Almighty to teach the people religious truths and morals. In addition, shepherding was considered a duty of the Israeli and Jewish kings, because they were God's anointed, and therefore, were his representatives in the political and economic life of the state. Then the ministry of the pastor himself was learned by a Galilean preacher named Jesus, who had nothing to do with the priesthood, but claimed the special sonship of God.

If you believe what is written in the Christian gospels included in the code of the New Testament, then Jesus said of himself that he is a true good shepherd, whom sheep know and listen to. This he contrasted himself with the Pharisees and Sadducees - the groupings of Jewish leaders and priests of the time, discredited the religion of the fathers in the eyes of both the people and the Roman authorities. In addition, Christ was told very important words that would later become a characteristic of the ideal of pastoral ministry, without which it is impossible to understand who a pastor in Christianity is.

Pastoral tasks

So, we found out that in Christianity, Jesus is the perfect pastor. Who is this person, if you leave behind the brackets the faith of Christians that he was incarnate God? By profession, Christ was an artisan, in life - a stray preacher. But teaching is not pastoring. He cared for and cared for the community that accompanied him on his travels and shared with him all the sorrows and joys of his fate. But this is quite natural and also does not answer the question of who the pastor is.

According to Jesus himself, the true shepherd is such a mentor who is willing to sacrifice his life to save the flock. This is the key point that distinguishes a true pastor from someone whom Christ called mercenaries. The latter, he said, flee in a moment of danger, leaving the herd to be torn to wolves, and the true shepherd defends his sheep until the last gasp. In addition, they were told that the pastor enters the sheepfish through the gate directly, and the thieves make a tunnel or climb over the fence. Therefore, anyone who achieves the status of a mentor in a Christian community, not in agreement with the will of the flock, but in a roundabout way, is not a pastor, but a thief.

Christ also spoke of wolves, who in sheep's clothing come to the herd. This means leaders who use the flock in their own interests, cash in at their expense, satisfy their vanity and the thirst for power, not particularly rejoicing about its well-being and needs. These three points need to be understood in order to understand who the pastor of the church is.

Pastor in Catholicism

In the Catholic Church, the pastoral role is played by three categories of people - priests, bishops of all ranks and the Pope. In general, the Pope is also, essentially, a bishop. But in Catholicism, its role is so unique and its position is so especially in all respects that its functions can be spoken of as a completely independent ministry. The pope is considered neither more nor less, but the vicar of Christ on Earth. Therefore, as a confidant of the Son of God, he extends his pastoral authority to the whole church. At least, to the part that recognizes him in this capacity, and this is a billion and a quarter people.

The bishops, which from Greek means "supervisors", are pastors within the dioceses - church areas. Priests are in the context of the parish, that is, of a particular community. The duties of all of them include serving the Mass, performing other sacraments (baptism, confirmation, confession and others), preaching and spiritual guidance of believers. This is the pastor in the church, according to the general views of the Catholics.

Pastor in Orthodoxy

Orthodoxy was not far from Catholicism. At least, with respect to the concept of "pastor". Who is the Pope, this, however, is a separate issue, since the Orthodox do not recognize in the bulk of the role attributed to the Pope in Catholicism, and do not have his own analogue. Therefore, they have only two categories of persons called to this service - priests and bishops. But within their framework it is absolutely analogous to the Catholic one.

There is a version that the well-known word "pop" is an abbreviation, which stands for "shepherd of Orthodox sheep". However, Byzantine despotism taught believers to see in their priests and bishops gentlemen and superiors, some privileged church aristocrats, which is absolutely contrary to the pastoral ethic of the New Testament, where in clarifying who the pastor is, it is directly stated that he must graze the flock entrusted to him Fear, meekness, wisdom, without reigning over the heritage of God. Therefore, the traditional appeals to the bishop as "lord" and "lord" appear against the background of humble lectures of Jesus somewhat ambiguously.

Pastor in Protestantism

The same conclusions were reached by the Protestants and simply abolished all titles, and the concept of the priesthood itself was brought to naught. At once it is necessary to make a reservation that there are a lot of Protestant confessions and sometimes they differ significantly among themselves. For example, Anglicans are very close to Catholics, whereas Pentecostals, for example, are extremely far from them. All this concerns the concept of shepherding.

Nevertheless, the Protestant mainstream views the pastor as a layman, elected with the consent of the whole community to serve the word. This means that the founded task of these people is preaching. In Protestantism there is no complex hierarchy and rigid vertical of power, as in Catholicism and Orthodoxy. But preaching pastors by default is associated with administrative functions. In general, this service has a greater charismatic shade than in other areas of Christianity.

Simply put, if in Orthodoxy and Catholicism the priest is a pastor simply by virtue of his ordination, even if he is, for example, at rest and does not carry any ministry, then in Protestantism the pastor is only called someone who actually performs specific pastoral functions. With the termination of service, the status of pastor from a person is also removed.