The pastor as the primary teacher in the church: The meaning and expectations of pastoral ministry within the mainline denominations

Abstract

A pastor is widely viewed as a shepherd and a Christian leader. Pastors have complex roles stemming from a complex calling; pastoral practice is multidimensional and not easily defined. The contemporary use of the term "pastor" denotes different kinds of religious roles in church leadership. In mainline denominations a pastor is generally viewed as an ordained minister designated for the ministry of the word and administering sacraments. The pastor has many pastoral roles including church leadership, pastoral care, the preaching of the word. It is argued in this article that the key role of the pastor is that of a teacher who empowers the lay leadership and church members in general through his/her various pastoral roles. In Southern African languages such as Shona use the term mufundisi while in Ndebele and Zulu use the umufundisi referring to a pastor. This is most appropriate because mufundisi/umufundisi means an ordained minister who is regarded as a teacher, equipper of people and leader of all sections of the church. The article begins by discussing the general processes and procedures of pastoral calling in the mainline denominations. It draws its central point of the pastor being a teacher from the very accurate way in which the pastor is viewed and defined as a mufundisi in the above-mentioned African languages, as well as from the role of Jesus as a teacher. The article then discusses the nature of the pastor as a teacher and the expectations of this role in pastoral ministry from a southern African context.