What do pastors do?

[shinyhappypeople]

I recently started attending church again after many years and I'm trying to figure it out with fresh eyes.

 

Today I'm pondering the role of the pastor. What does it really mean? What's the job description? What can I reasonably ask or expect and what's unreasonable?

 

For ex: "Please pray for me during this tough time," seems reasonable, right? When, if ever, wouldn't that be reasonable?? I wish there were a rule book I could refer to, e.g.: in the case of "sick child," see Chapter 3, paragraph 4, subsection 9 of the church's standard operating procedures manual. No muss, no fuss, no embarrassment of asking for the wrong thing or asking the wrong person.

 

I'm confused and trying hard not to make any mistakes with this new group (a big church). Please help. I would be especially grateful if pastors wives would respond. Thank you. Consider this a mission to help the clueless (me). :tongue_smilie:

[happi duck]

If it is a really big church there might be someone specifically assigned to work with new members. Your questions are very appropriate. Don't be afraid to ask.

[Laurie4b]

The larger the church, the more differentiated the job descriptions will be. How many people attend on a Sunday? Does your church have a website? How many staff are there? I would find out who is in charge of newcomers and set up a time to visit with him or her and ask. It might be a lay person who could answer your questions. Most of your care should come through other people in the church rather than directly from the pastor in terms of prayer, etc. so make it a point to get yourself connected.

[Jean in Newcastle]

In a large church, there may be a prayer chain.

 

We are in a tiny church. What my pastor-husband does would be much different than what a pastor does in a large church. In fact most large churches have more than one pastor. My husband's job description is basically to study God's word and to teach it.

[Garga]

OP: How big is your new church? It makes a difference.

 

I went from a church of about 15 members to one of about 1500 members.

 

BIG difference in what the pastor does between those two churches.

[ScoutTN]

I go to a large church and have worked in three large, conservative Presbyterian churches over the past 25 years.

 

Our pastors do the following things:

1. Plan and lead worship services. Including baptizing and offering the Lord's Supper. And doing weddings and funerals.

2. Study the Bible, prepare and teach/preach lessons and sermons. Most of our pastors teach 2x a week at least.

3. Pray with and for people.

4. Visit people who are sick or shut-ins. Or in the hospital with a new baby.

5. Counseling - general spiritual issues, pre-marriage, marital problems.

6. Lead and disciple church officers.

7. Attend and sometimes lead various meetings.

 

hth

[Chris in VA]

Our church has about a thousand members, but only maybe 250 come regularly.

We are Episcopalian, and my husband has an office staff, an organist/choirmaster, an assistant priest (we call our pastors "priests"), and a lay person who is a youth minister (in charge of the youth program), as well as a lay person in charge of the Sunday School (her title is DRE--Director of Religious Ed).

 

Don has to preach and lead the liturgical service 3 times on Sunday am--he is at every service, but he preaches the sermon every other week. He leads the service at the local nursing home every other Tues and does a Weds night healing service every other week.

 

He teaches an adult Sunday School class in the fall--he's very academic and very prepared. He also leads the kids or the adult Confirmation class from January to June. During Lent, he teaches 4 classes to the adults. He also leads a class on our parish retreat in June, sometimes multiage and sometimes just adults.

 

He handles visits to the hospital, pastoral counseling, marriage prep and staff meetings. The assistant also does visitation, counseling, marriage prep and pastoral visits.

 

He is the head of the Vestry, a group of elected "elders" who lead committees and provide lay leadership.

 

He goes on the adult mission trip (they've been going to New Orleans for a few years) and sometimes goes on the youth trip (we go thru Group Publishing).

 

He is available every day and every night, 24/6--he gets Mondays off. He certainly prays for people, does hours of research for his teaching/preaching, and is also the Dean of our Deanery, a group of churches in our area--this involves meetings once a month.

 

He also supervises and teaches our Seminarian--Seminarians are those in process of schooling to become ordained ministers (either priests or deacons). In their second and third years, they come to a church and become part of that church's leadership, doing Lenten classes, preaching sermons, and participating in other aspects of church life. They attend all staff meetings, have mentorship meetings with my hubby, and==well, it's sort of like student teaching.

 

He attends most functions at the church--potlucks, fundraisers, lunches given to support staff and volunteers, etc. He also plays in our Pohick Pickers, a country-style guitar/fiddle/drum type band that provides music for our service once a month (he doesn't play then! lol) and plays at our parish fair and homeless picnic and crab feast and Christmas party (we have a lot of food events...lol), as well as several times in the community.

 

Whew! He's busy, but balanced, believe it or not.

[Excelsior! Academy]

Work 1 hour a week.:D

[WishboneDawn]

I just want to suggest that you absolutely WILL make mistakes. I've made them myself - even while reading scripture during a service!:blushing:

 

But you know when you've found a good church when the mistakes are seen as just that and people think no less of you and help you learn. And personally, I'd just go to the pastor and ask what his/her role is. :)

[shinyhappypeople]

 

Whew! He's busy, but balanced, believe it or not.

 

That was really, really helpful. Thanks. :) I guess I assumed most of those things are pastoral type activities, but seeing it all written out... wow. :001_huh:

 

I'm not sure how many attenders there are at this church. Over multiple services, I'd guess about 1,200. Actual members... NO idea.

 

I just looked at the web site (yes, dear hive, thank you for reminding me: when in doubt, do the obvious). Here's the staff:

 

Sr. Pastor (obviously),

Asst. Pastor (I've never seen this guy yet, so I guess he's more behind the scenes),

Youth Pastor,

Discipleship Coordinator (I've never heard of that before),

Children's Pastor,

Worship Director

 

... and various support staff (secretary, janitor, etc.)

 

I don't see any women's ministry person or a newcomer contact person.

 

So, I'm still not sure what this particular Sr. pastor does or who my contact person should be. I feel stupid calling and asking the receptionist, but if I get desperate enough I might. I'm not desperate enough yet. Nothing major is going on, so I'm cool just to cruise under the radar and try to figure things out, I guess.

 

If it were YOU, who would YOU contact when/if you felt the need for prayer/help/support for a seriously ill spouse or child, death in the family or other MAJOR issue?

[LAmom]

My husband is a pastor of a congregation of about 50ish. I think people are right in saying it depends on how large the church is. My husband, in this smaller church, can give a lot of attention to people that ask. Does your church have any elders? Usually elders are assigned to members.

 

I believe that besides the important role of studying God's word and preaching it faithfully, a pastor is there to help the sheep. He is the counselor and definitely part of his role is to pray for his people (God's people) and help them where they need help. If someone in our church has a problem, concern, etc., they approach my husband and he meets with them. We also have 3 wonderful elders that work alongside my husband. Deacons also are available for help.

 

I would simply approach your pastor and talk to him with your concerns. If he doesn't have time for you (which is weird to me, but in a church with 1200!!!!) he should be able to guide you in the right direction. Sometimes large churches have small groups. Does yours offer this? They would be prayer partners, etc.

[Jean in Newcastle]

That was really, really helpful. Thanks. :) I guess I assumed most of those things are pastoral type activities, but seeing it all written out... wow. :001_huh:

 

I'm not sure how many attenders there are at this church. Over multiple services, I'd guess about 1,200. Actual members... NO idea.

 

I just looked at the web site (yes, dear hive, thank you for reminding me: when in doubt, do the obvious). Here's the staff:

 

Sr. Pastor (obviously),

Asst. Pastor (I've never seen this guy yet, so I guess he's more behind the scenes),

Youth Pastor,

Discipleship Coordinator (I've never heard of that before),

Children's Pastor,

Worship Director

 

... and various support staff (secretary, janitor, etc.)

 

I don't see any women's ministry person or a newcomer contact person.

 

So, I'm still not sure what this particular Sr. pastor does or who my contact person should be. I feel stupid calling and asking the receptionist, but if I get desperate enough I might. I'm not desperate enough yet. Nothing major is going on, so I'm cool just to cruise under the radar and try to figure things out, I guess.

 

If it were YOU, who would YOU contact when/if you felt the need for prayer/help/support for a seriously ill spouse or child, death in the family or other MAJOR issue?

 

I would call the church secretary. I would explain that I was new to the church and wanted to know who to contact if you have prayer concerns.

 

Or - if you've gravitated to one or two families in the times you were there, I would ask them next time you are there what the procedure is.

[sassenach]

Work 1 hour a week.:D

 

Um, no.

[Guest ME-Mommy]

Work 1 hour a week.:D

 

Um, no.

 

Yeah, I hope Excelsior! was kidding...:001_huh:

[Ottakee]

So, I'm still not sure what this particular Sr. pastor does or who my contact person should be. I feel stupid calling and asking the receptionist, but if I get desperate enough I might. I'm not desperate enough yet. Nothing major is going on, so I'm cool just to cruise under the radar and try to figure things out, I guess.

 

If it were YOU, who would YOU contact when/if you felt the need for prayer/help/support for a seriously ill spouse or child, death in the family or other MAJOR issue?

 

DO NOT feel stupid calling the office and asking questions. In our church (about 150-175) we have various people that handle different issues but you are always welcome to call the church or pastor and be directed to the right person.

 

For prayer request, you call or email ME---I then email the request down to all the families in the church.

 

For serious illness/injury/hospitalization, etc. you call the pastor and he will come to the hospital, home, etc. as the situation indicates.

 

For general help with issues, etc. we also have deacons that each are responsible for different groups in the church--and 1 deacon that covers the non-members that attend. They have fellowships as well.

 

Just call and ask who you call for various things. You might also see if they have any couples that are more like a welcoming committee (not great term) to help you navigate the church, learn what programs are available, etc.

[RamonaQ]

In our largish church,

 

1-There is always a pastor on call. This is on the voicemail after hours.

 

2-During hours, I just call the office and get help. Usually, they will connect me with a pastor if I have a pastoral issue--needing prayer, wanting to set up an appointment to discuss a spiritual issue....

 

3-Otherwise, I often can solve things through our pastoral care co-coordinator who generally has good ideas.

 

4-Do they have a new members group or committee at your church? We have one, and often match "mentors" to new members who are very good at helping navigate the church scene.

[shinyhappypeople]

Thank you all very much. I feel a little more comfortable with the possibilities now.

 

Now my next question:

 

My kids think their children's church is *awesome* and I'm so relieved. It's been such a wonderful experience for them so far. My biggest fear in choosing a church was that it would harm my kids, and I don't see that happening in this particular venue.

 

Anyway, in another month or two (after I've intro'd myself and the kids are a little more integrated into the group) I was thinking of sending the Children's Ministry person a thank you note, letting him know what a positive thing this experience has been for my kids. Would that be weird? Also, would it be kosher to enclose a small gift (maybe a $10 Starbucks card or something like that) along with the note? I'm a gift-giver. I love, love, love giving presents to people. Sadly, my budget doesn't love it quite as much, so they're generally small tokens of my appreciation. However, I'm not sure if it would seem... I don't know... somehow inappropriate for the CM guy to accept a small gift from me.

Thoughts? Thank you :001_smile:

[Jean in Newcastle]

Thank you all very much. I feel a little more comfortable with the possibilities now.

 

Now my next question:

 

My kids think their children's church is *awesome* and I'm so relieved. It's been such a wonderful experience for them so far. My biggest fear in choosing a church was that it would harm my kids, and I don't see that happening in this particular venue.

 

Anyway, in another month or two (after I've intro'd myself and the kids are a little more integrated into the group) I was thinking of sending the Children's Ministry person a thank you note, letting him know what a positive thing this experience has been for my kids. Would that be weird? Also, would it be kosher to enclose a small gift (maybe a $10 Starbucks card or something like that) along with the note? I'm a gift-giver. I love, love, love giving presents to people. Sadly, my budget doesn't love it quite as much, so they're generally small tokens of my appreciation. However, I'm not sure if it would seem... I don't know... somehow inappropriate for the CM guy to accept a small gift from me.

Thoughts? Thank you :001_smile:

 

Not weird at all. And I know it would be appreciated.

[LizzyBee]

If it were YOU, who would YOU contact when/if you felt the need for prayer/help/support for a seriously ill spouse or child, death in the family or other MAJOR issue?

 

At my church, we have cards that we can write prayer requests on and drop them in the offering buckets. The staff prays for these requests during staff meetings. I frequently get emails letting me know my request was prayed for, so I know they actually read the cards and pray over them.

 

Or we can email prayer@(churchname).org. Our Sunday School class shares prayer requests and prays together on Sunday mornings. And I would not hesitate to share my prayer request with my pastor. In your case, he may say that he'll pray for you and also let you know if there's a staff person whom you should also mention it to. If it were an urgent matter during the week, I'd call the church office and tell the secretary, knowing that she'll pass it on to the staff.