Preachers, Pastors

Preacher From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a moral or social worldview or philosophy.

Pastor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A pastor is an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. A pastor also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation.

It is derived from the Latin word pastor, meaning shepherd.

History The word "pastor" derives from the Latin noun pastor which means "shepherd" and is derived from the verb pascere – "to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat". The term "pastor" also relates to the role of elder within the New Testament, but is not synonymous with the biblical understanding of minister. Many Protestant churches call their ministers "pastors".

Present-day usage of the word is rooted in the Biblical metaphor of shepherding. The Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament) uses the Hebrew word רעה‎ (roʿeh), which is used as a noun as in "shepherd," and as a verb as in "to tend a flock." It occurs 173 times in 144 Old Testament verses and relates to the literal feeding of sheep, as in Genesis 29:7. In Jeremiah 23:4, both meanings are used (ro'im is used for "shepherds" and yir'um for "shall feed them"), "And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD." (KJV).

Christ's Charge to Peter by Raphael, 1515. In telling Peter to feed his sheep, Christ appointed him as a pastor. English-language translations of the New Testament usually render the Greek noun ποιμήν (poimēn) as "shepherd" and the Greek verb ποιμαίνω (poimainō) as "feed". The two words occur a total of 29 times in the New Testament, most frequently referring to Jesus. For example, Jesus called himself the "Good Shepherd" in John 10:11. The same words in the familiar Christmas story (Luke 2) refer to literal shepherds.

In five New Testament passages though, the words relate to members of the church:

John 21:16 - Jesus told Peter: "Feed My sheep" Acts 20:17 - the Apostle Paul summons the elders of the church in Ephesus to give a last discourse to them; in Acts 20:28, he tells them that the Holy Spirit has made them overseers, and they are to feed the church of God. 1 Corinthians 9:7 - Paul says, of himself and the apostles: "who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?" Ephesians 4:11 - Paul wrote "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;" 1st Peter 5:1-2 - Peter tells the elders among his readers that they are to, "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof" Bishops of various denominations often bear a formal crosier in the form of a stylised shepherd's crook as a symbol of their pastoral/shepherding functions.

Historical usage Around 400 AD, Saint Augustine, a prominent African Catholic bishop, described a pastor's job:

Disturbers are to be rebuked, the low-spirited to be encouraged, the infirm to be supported, objectors confuted, the treacherous guarded against, the unskilled taught, the lazy aroused, the contentious restrained, the haughty repressed, litigants pacified, the poor relieved, the oppressed liberated, the good approved, the evil borne with, and all are to be loved.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preacher https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastor