Show of Hands

Thanks, Bama! I agree with you on all counts!

Hubby was called to preach, but also called to the Pastoral ministry. There are others that might be called to preach, but are called to evangelism. Others might be ministers of music, youth, administration, missions, etc. So the call to pastoral ministry is a very specific call.

You wouldn’t believe the number of people that have asked hubby what he does all week, or half jokingly talk about him only working on Sundays and Wednesday nights. I’ve often wished I could ask them to shadow him for a week and see if they could keep up! 😂🤣😂🤣

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Please help me out. As a non-Christian, I honestly never knew there was a difference between pastors and ministers. What are the differences?


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Sure, GA. Here’s an article that pretty well sums it up. But we take issue with the sentence that says he must be the father of his own household. That Scripture actually says he must rule his household well. In other words, his kids are expected to be well behaved, etc. Please read this article before you read what I’ve said below, because the article tells what the difference is, according to Scripture, whereas below, I’ve fleshed out what a pastor does that a minister doesn’t and the differences.

www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/religion-miscellaneous/difference-between-minister-and-pastor/

In addition to this article, please read what I said above.

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2) A minister can be someone that preaches only, or is a minister of music that never preaches, but only leads music. He can be a minister of youth that only leads youth. He can be a minister of education that never preaches but leads the educational part of church (Sunday school classes, Discipleship Training classes, etc.) He can be a minister of administration in larger churches, where that all he does is administer the business side of the church.

I know of churches that have ministers of missions that all they do is coordinate people going on mission trips, etc. And all of the above ministers can also be preachers that preach, filling in for the pastor when he is out of town, on vacation, preaching a revival, at a convention, etc.

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3) Some ministers/preachers are called to evangelism instead of pastoring. Think Billy Graham. Although he has pastored a church before, most people including him would say his true calling is to preach sermons that will lead people to accept Christ. This is the definition of an evangelist. They don’t pastor churches, but do revivals, which are a series of meetings from town to town, in which lots of people come to hear about Jesus.

Whereas a pastor is called to preach all kinds of sermons—to lead people to Christ, to help them grow as Christians, to help them grow as a church, to teach them Biblical doctrine, and the overall teachings of the Bible, etc.

A pastor also visits people in the community to try to lead them to Christ, invite them to church, etc. He visits church members in hospitals and nursing homes. When church members go in for surgery, some pastors sit with the family members, often ALL DAY LONG.

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4) In some churches, pastors lead all committee meetings (there are committees that cover EVERY aspect of the church—hospitality, benevolence, maintenance, church council (which includes treasurer, secretary, heads of all major organizations, such as Sunday School, Discipleship Training, Missions Organizations (In SBC churches, there are missions organizations for men, women, preschoolers, elementary aged boys, elementary aged girls, teen boys, teen girls). So a pastor can have SEVERAL committee meetings per week, usually at night because members work.

In other churches, pastors are just ex-officio members of committees, which means they’re more of an advisor to those committees. That would mean they don’t have to be at all these meetings, unless they’re requested by the members of the committee to be.

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5) He officiates funerals and weddings. A minister can do this also, as long as he’s licensed. Some ministers are also ordained which takes it a step further.

I think the intro to my Myths People Believe about Pastors also talks about the things that pastors spend their time doing—and it’s probably included in this one, below, I think, since it’s talking about the time he spends on ministry.

Besides studying for 3 sermons a week, pastors of small churches often teach at least one Sunday School or Discipleship Training class they have to study for every week. They also often have to write newsletter articles, get their sermon titles and Scripture to the church secretary (if the pastor or his wife doesn’t fulfill that role ALSO!) by a certain time every week.

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6) If it’s a church that has more than one minister, they have weekly staff meetings and preside over those. They often attend weekly meetings with other pastors, and serve in roles in the denomination.

That’s all I can think of, off the top of my head. Hope this helps. If you have any further questions, let me know.

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GmaA - I am happy to answer your question but I do not agree with her response in total. I will provide you a few links and then give you a short summary.

www.apologeticspress.org/DiscoveryPubPage.aspx?pub=2&issue=1099&article=2059

www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=11&article=5011

A minister is essentially someone who either preaches or they might be a minister of a specific area such as the youth. As a minister they also minister to the needs of either the congregation or the group that they are in charge of hence the term.

A pastor is another word for a shepherd. It is also called a bishop and an elder. These are names assigned to a plurality of men that made certain specific biblical requirements and they are essentially the leaders of the congregation they are responsible ultimately for all decisions. They are also responsible for the care and feeding of the flock.

This is not the way that Southern Baptist congregations are organized so
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That is why 4JC and I have differing views on this. if you have additional questions for me, let me know.

Wait, Bama, I don’t understand. Most of what you just said is in the article I linked.

SBC churches do see pastors as shepherds, etc. What exactly are you saying we disagree about? Maybe I’m misunderstanding?

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But you can have a congregation with only one pastor correct?

& if an elder and a pastor disagree who would have the final say?

Yes, we can have a church with only one pastor. Some churches have associate pastors, youth pastors, etc. It just depends on the size of the church and what they can afford. Most small churches can only afford a pastor, and a lot of them can’t even afford to pay one full time, so the pastor is called bivocational and works a secular job in addition to pastoring. That’s what hubby is doing now, though he’s pastored full time churches before.

We don’t have elders. We have deacons. And the answer to that question is as varied as there are SBC churches! Lol In some churches, the pastor rules with an iron fist, but they are few and far between.

Most of the time, the pastor and the board of deacons make decisions together, along with the church council. And there is a monthly business meeting in which church members can vote on decisions that the church is making on spending money, ministries, etc.

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I basically agree with most of your first three points when you get to the fourth point I disagree on the committee thing.

I completely disagree with your fifth point, because anyone can speak at or preach a funeral or wedding. Granted for wedding they must be recognized by the state, but from a church standpoint there is no licensure required according to the Bible. I think I would agree with most of the 6th point.

Practically everything that you just said in response to my questions is where we disagree. From a biblical point of view I don’t think they’re can ever be just one pastor... which is the same thing as an elder in the Bible. The words are actually used interchangeably to describe the same group of men. Also only ministers are paid in the churches that I grew up in. Elders are not paid nor are deacons. Often ministers will have a second job in small congregations.

So your church doesn’t have committees? Or the pastor doesn’t oversee them?

It might be different now, since ANYONE can go online and get certified to marry someone, which I feel cheapens a wedding ceremony. I feel that it should be a pastor or minister that is licensed as such, to preach a Biblical wedding.

And I do believe to marry someone in an SBC church you have to be at least licensed. I’ll have to ask hubby about that one later, when he’s available to talk.

I’ve never attended a funeral in which there was someone OTHER than a minister (and a lot of times 2 different ones share the service) that officiated. But all the funerals I’ve attended have been Christian ones, also, and I’m assuming that’s what we’re talking about.

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2) I’m not saying that other people can’t speak at a funeral. I’ve seen lots of family members get up and speak about their loved one, for example. But in all the funerals I’ve been to, there is a set format. The minister reads the obituary card, which included details about the person that passed away. This person might also tell personal stories that the family has told him when preparing for the funeral.

The other part of the funeral might be officiated by that same minister or another one that preaches from the Bible (and thus needs to be a minister). Some pastors like hubby focus on Scripture that COMFORTS the loved ones. But others do full out salvation sermons, trying to lead others to Christ so they will one day see their loved one again.

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Any Christian man can speak the Bible to a congregation. It need not be a professional minister.

I don’t see weddings or funerals as innately religious.

So your churches have had multiple pastors that all share the job of caring for the congregation, preaching all the sermons, etc.? If so, how do they pay all of them, or are you in really large churches?

Elders and deacons are not paid in our churches either, just ministers. And often ministers like ministers of music, ministers of youth, etc. are volunteer positions because the church can’t afford to pay more than the pastor. And I mentioned that a LOT of our ministers are bivocational, also, with a 2nd job. Maybe you’re responding to comments I made BEFORE the ones where I explained these things? I’m confused—we might be cross posting too quickly! Lol


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Yes we might have committees that do things & they ultimately answer to the eldership, but it is rare that the elders are on these committees & honestly we don’t have that many committees except for committees that are in charge of special events like a ladies retreat or vacation Bible school.

Pastors are the same thing as elders.

As to your comment about pastors being elders, did you read the article I posted? It said this:

In the Bible, it is clearly defined that a pastor is a person holding an office. He must meet a certain criteria or qualification in order for him to become one. In the book of Titus and 1st Timothy, a pastor is described chiefly as an elder. The term itself is derived from the Greek word “poimain,” which literally means “shepherd.” In the first chapter of Titus, pastors must be appointed in every city or district. As such, they must act as the area’s overseers. Paul’s conversation to a group of elders is also stated in the book of Acts with him exclaiming to the group that they have been regarded as the overseers who’ll shepherd God’s church. This clearly shows that a pastor is an elder.

Read more: Difference Between Minister and Pastor | Difference Between www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/religion-miscellaneous/difference-between-minister-and-pastor/#ixzz4xzbo5bcc

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Every congregation that I have been a member of has either had multiple elders which are also called pastors or none. I was baptized at a very tiny congregation that did not have any elders/pastors. We had one paid minister. The song leader was a volunteer and so was the youth minister. The reason there were no elders at that congregation was because there was only one man who was biblically qualified and desired the position and because the term is never used as a singular noun in the New Testament where the qualifications are laid out we believe that you can never have only one you always require a plurality.

I am a bit confused by your use of the word eldership. I’ve always thought that elders in other denominations were much like deacons in the SBC.

The pastor leads the church.
The deacons are supposed to be ministering to widows, shut ins, etc. Many SBC churches don’t function this way, though, and they take a more administrative position as a group. Hubby always tried to lead ours toward servanthood, in addition to their administrative roles, as this is the Biblical view.

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Ok. So are you saying that a different man preaches every week, that they all go visit people in hospitals, etc?

You are not understanding what I’m saying at all.

Did you at the articles that I’ve posted?

With regard to the article you posted I think I agree with everything up and to the point where it has the picture of Trump the points below that I don’t necessarily agree with entirely.

I’m going to try again...

The eldership AKA the elders/pastors/bishops/shepherds ALWAYS exist in a plurality. They as a group lead the congregation & have ultimate responsibility and authority in each congregation.

They often hire one or more ministers. Typically they hire a pulpit minister or an evangelist to deliver most of the sermons on Sunday mornings to the congregation. this person often for Phils most of the roles that you would traditionally associate with the person that you call Pastor like visiting the sick or performing a funeral for someone who just need somebody from the church. He can also be assigned other responsibilities.

Typically, in medium to large congregations there are also several deacons which also have their own biblical qualifications that are laid out in the NT. The literal translation of the word Deacon is servant. Different elder ships organize the deacons in different manners but most often they are deacons over particular areas
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My dad, for example, was the deacon over building maintenance.

That was asked to be an elder at one point but he did not feel he was qualified. Both his father and his grandfather were elders at different points. None of them would ever have described themselves as ministers but everyone of them has preached a sermon and lead singing for the congregation.

Did all of that help or did I just confuse you further?

To preach in a SBC church, you have to be licensed and ordained.

Teaching is a different story.

I’ve never been to a funeral that wasn’t religious and I’ve only been to one wedding that wasn’t.

I especially see weddings as religious, as Christ’s love for the church as his Bride pictures.

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No, sorry, I hadn’t even noticed the links you posted. Picture of Trump? I don’t see a picture of Trump in the article I posted. I’m wondering if that sent you to some other site!

Ok. I think what you’re describing as elders/pastors/bishops/shepherds are what we call deacons—they RUN the church and hire what you call the minister—which we call the pastor.

Our deacons are a plurality—usually 5 or more men, depending on the size of the church—they also have to meet Biblical requirements and must be ordained as deacons. But most SBC churches are trying to get them away from running the church and doing more ministry to the widows and shut ins, orphans, etc like the Bible says.

So I think we’re basically using the terms in complete opposite ways—what I consider a pastor, you consider a minister. I’m not sure. Sorry. This is all very foreign to me. Do you mind sharing your denomination?

I’ll try to read the articles.

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The sentence before that is
“Lastly, he shouldn’t be a newly converted individual and must bear irrefutable respect from people outside the church.” & now it’s an ad that says “Small Business”.

Ok. I read the first article. We see the pastor as the person that both shepherds the flock and preaches. One position—overseeing the flock, ministering to them, teaching, preaching, etc. He has a LOT on his plate! Lol

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Ok. I’m not sure about what we’re talking about with ads and all. In Safari, I can get rid of the ads and just do reader view. So I’m pasting the entire article here. Please copy and paste the part you have problems with from that. Will that work?

Difference Between Minister and Pastor
Minister vs Pastor

There are many names given to the preachers of the faith. Across many specific religions, the roles and titles of these people may somehow vary. So many people become confused with the terms: priest, reverend, pastor, and minister. It is probably the pastor and the minister that have the most confusing distinction.

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2) In the Bible, it is clearly defined that a pastor is a person holding an office. He must meet a certain criteria or qualification in order for him to become one. In the book of Titus and 1st Timothy, a pastor is described chiefly as an elder. The term itself is derived from the Greek word “poimain,” which literally means “shepherd.” In the first chapter of Titus, pastors must be appointed in every city or district. As such, they must act as the area’s overseers. Paul’s conversation to a group of elders is also stated in the book of Acts with him exclaiming to the group that they have been regarded as the overseers who’ll shepherd God’s church. This clearly shows that a pastor is an elder.

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3) Furthermore, Titus 1:5-9 also highlights the other important qualifications of a pastor. First, he must be a man above reproach. Second, he must be wed to only one wife. Third, he must possess the following qualities: prudent, temperate, hospitable, respectable, knows how to teach, not a wine addict, non-aggressive, peace loving, gentle, and not easily enslaved by the passion of money.

Fourth, he should be the father of his very own household. Lastly, he shouldn’t be a newly converted individual and must bear irrefutable respect from people outside the church.

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4) In the Roman Catholic sense, the pastor is the priest of a certain parish (one single church community) unlike in the Protestant sense wherein it is more of a job title offered to someone who is able to work as the religious head.

In addition, ministers are generally found in the Protestant setup. To become one, this person should have been officially ordained. He can be an ordained minister but is not immediately assumed to perform the duties of a pastor whereas a pastor is already assumed to be able to perform the duties of a minister. When you become ordained as a minister, it means that you have been duly acknowledged as a trusted, religious figure or authority.

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5) Summary:

1.The term “pastor” means an “elder, overseer or shepherd.”
2.The pastor of the Roman Catholic Church is the priest of the parish.
3.The pastor of the Protestant Church is the religious leader. It’s more of a job position or title.
4.The term “minister” means “preacher.” All pastors can perform the duties of a minister, but not all ministers can act as pastors.


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I️ grew up in the church of Christ.

We have deacons who are servants which is Biblical.

We have three different titles that might be used...
Elders
Deacons
Ministers

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Thanks to both of you. I’m reminded of the time 4jc asked me, RussianThunder and NKarta for some Jewish viewpoint. The three of us ended up disagreeing with each other.

Honestly, I’m a bit lost in the many details, but I think the two of you agree on the following. A pastor is an overall leader, a “shepherd” and caretaker of his congregation. A minister has specific and specialized duties.

Is that pretty close?



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Yes

Thanks, Bama!

Wow! Way to boil it down to two sentences, GA! I was thinking that myself about our convo—comparing it to the discussion with NK and RT—and hoping that we hadn’t totally overwhelmed you!

I had no clue that other denominations look at this differently. I mean, I knew that others have elders instead of deacons, but I thought they basically performed the same duties.

Let me ask you this, Bama—in your churches, are all (or at least a good variety) of the members expected to find areas to minister in? Not as professional ministers, but giving something back in service to the church body—like serving on committees, teaching in Sunday school or other classes, singing solos, playing musical instruments, etc.?

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2) Some of our churches do spiritual gifts surveys, which help you discover your giftedness in Christ, and then help you put that giftedness to use in the church. Here is one of those surveys, if you’re interested:

www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_PDF_Discover_Your_Spiritual_Gifts.pdf


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With the exception of the really small congregation that I mention every congregation that I attended have you complete a usually yearly card/survey for areas you were interested in serving in. now of course you could always go to the deacon that was in charge of that area or the church office and let them know that you were interested in working in a new area but yes, we’re all supposed to participate in the work of the church. Most people were involved in several things.

I have to say that I am a little surprised that you don’t know more about the churches of Christ given the area where you live... there would be no solos and no playing a musical instrument in worship. CoC (almost all congregations) are congregational a cappella singing.

That was very interesting, albeit a bit confusing! This would be a good opportunity for me to highlight what a rabbi does, including some of the similarities and differences with Christian clergy.

A rabbi does all of the things described above, with one big exception. A rabbi does not evangelize. Jews accept converts, but do not actively seek them. On the other hand, becoming a Jew requires a lot of knowledge. So, rabbis do teach prospective converts, when asked to.

Originally, the word “rabbi” was derived from “my teacher.” Teaching is central to being a rabbi. That does *not* negate all of the other duties, as already mentioned. That is counseling, administrative duties, preparing sermons and all the rest of it!

Finally, an important responsibility is keeping the synagogue and congregants on track with Jewish law. For example, the rabbi would ensure that the kitchen is kept strictly kosher.


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Interesting!

Bama, these are the statistics for the state of AL, as far as Baptist, Southern Baptist, and Church of Christ, from several sites. The statistics are a little different, probably because of the different years the articles were written.

www.bestplaces.net/religion/state/alabama

Alabama is 34.7% Baptist. CoC isn’t even listed, but is apparently lumped in with other Christian, at 8.3%

Alabama has 844 CoC congregations, 83,862 members.
Alabama has 3,148 Southern Baptist congregations, 1,380,121 members

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2) Two out of every three church members in Alabama and more than two-fifths of all residents consider themselves Baptists, with 1.1 million belonging to the churches in the Southern Baptist Convention and another 750,000, primarily African Americans, belonging to a variety of other Baptist associations

www.al.com/news/index.ssf/2016/12/what_percent_of_alabamians_are.html

1. 42% Baptist. 7. Church of Christ—3% There are more Unaffiliated, Methodists, Catholics, Pentecostals, Non-Denominational’s than CoC.

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3) I only actually know one family that is Church Of Christ. And that’s about all I know about them—that they don’t believe in musical instruments. In fact, I’ve heard someone say that a Church of Christ member visited their church and she overheard them in the bathroom talking about how filthy they felt, because of the musical instruments played in the church.

I don’t know if all or any other CoC members feel that strongly or not, because I haven’t met any! Lol

I also know that at least some of them don’t dance, as I asked the family member (not that person that complained—I don’t know who that was) who is CoC at one of our family weddings. I will say that her two daughter’s weddings are some of the most beautiful, religious, meaningful weddings I’ve ever been to.

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So, GA, it sounds like rabbis are a lot more like SBC pastors than ministers in other denominations, like CoC.

Teaching is central to being a pastor in an SBC church, also. And most churches now expect a pastor to be very knowledgeable, and the higher their degree, the bigger church they have the chance of pastoring. It used to be that small country churches didn’t require any education, but I think that has pretty much changed.

Hubby has a B.A. with a major in religion & a minor in psychology. He also has an M.Div., which is a Master of Divinity. In Southern Baptist Seminaries, you were required to take 88 hours post college to earn an M.Div. This amounts to 3 years of full time seminary classes. That amount of hours has actually increased since hubby graduated back in the mid 90’s.

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2) Many pastors go on to pursue a D.Min (Doctor of Ministry) or Ph.D (Doctor of Philosophy) or Th.D. (Doctor of Theology). Most churches now expect at least an M.Div, and most of those that run over 200 in church usually expect a doctorate.

Just to be ordained, as a young minister, before attending school, the minister has to study and be fluent in Biblical doctrine. He sits before a panel of ministers that grill him on his beliefs, before they will ok him being ordained.

An ordination service includes preachers that give sermons that are “charges” to the new minister—to do certain things as a minister, follow sound doctrine, etc. And then they do a “laying on of hands” of the new minister, where all those that are ordained come to the altar, where the minister is kneeling down, and they lay their hands on his head and pray for him, individually, one at a time.

All of the above also goes for deacons and their ordinations.

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That’s interesting, thanks! I have a question about sermons in a Christian church. This may sound strange, but bear with me for a moment, please.

In the synagogue, we read through the entire Torah in a yearly cycle. Each week’s portion (“parsha”) is the same for every synagogue in the world.

For example, this week we are reading Genesis 23:1–25:18. We call this portion “Chayei Sarah” (the life of Sarah). The tradition is to name the portion, the same as the first few Hebrew words of the text.

So, what does that have to do with my question? A rabbi typically bases his sermon, in some way, on the weekly Torah portion. This gives a lot of leeway, but also gives a specific focus.

So, I’m curious. When your husband chooses a topic for a sermon, is it wide open or is there some kind of guideline, such as the above? Is it usually centered around some part of the Bible or not necessarily?

I’m just curious.


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4JC, don’t trust those stats most CoC people would call themselves Christians or non-denominational...most refuse to view it as a denomination & since each congregation is autonomous, unlike SBC, there isn’t an official group to tell us. COC does have several universities & the Duck Dynasty family is CoC. As to knowing CoC members, I️ only know two Southern Baptists, so I guess I️ shouldn’t be suprized.

I️ will answer about sermons where I have worshiped. It’s wide open, unless the elders have designated a theme or assigned a topic.

GA, that depends on the denomination. I’ve visited a Presbyterian church, and they have readings like what you’re talking about, but I don’t know if the sermon is based on that, because I’ve only been to one service with a friend.

Some Christian churches follow what is called the Christian calendar. They celebrate Advent, and other Christian holidays throughout the year, more than just Christmas and Easter that others follow.

These churches and denominations that follow the liturgical calendar are usually more staid, do rote readings—where the pastor reads one paragraph and the congregation reads the next paragraph in unison, etc.

Again, I’m not sure if the sermon is based on that, or not.

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2) Southern Baptist Churches run the gamut, because we ARE autonomous churches, Bama. Even though we can cooperate with our local associations, the State Convention, and the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), we are NOT told what to believe, what to do, what to preach, etc. Church members in each church vote on actions their churches will take.

As far as running the gamut—-some churches are VERY casual, don’t even do weekly bulletins (order of worship paper that show what you will be doing in the service, with the order of hymns, any readings, solos, sermon, etc.) Many churches like that feel that this “quenches the Holy Spirit”—meaning that they like to wing it, with the minister of music calling out what the title and number of the next hymn will be—as he feels led by The Holy Spirit.

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3) Others are very regimented, with the liturgical calendar Scripture, and VERY rote and staid, serious and solemn. But I think this category would probably have the least percentage of SBC churches.

Most are somewhere in the middle, with a bulletin, but not the liturgical calendar or readings.

A new type has risen just since we’ve been in the ministry the last 40 years—what’s called a “seeker” service or contemporary worship.

In these services, you don’t usually have hymnals, but the words are projected onto huge screens at the front of the church. These churches don’t usually do hymns (which are more staid songs that teach church and Christian doctrine), but praise choruses.

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4) I see these two types of songs as both important—Hymns for teaching doctrine and praise choruses for worshipping God. In hymns, you’re usually singing ABOUT God & Jesus. With praise choruses, you’re singing TO God and Jesus. I find praise songs to be more worshipful, and often find tears rolling down my face, in gratitude for what Jesus has done for me when I sing praise songs.

Some larger churches have several different services on Sundays—either because they’re running out of room to hold everyone in the sanctuary, or because people prefer different types of services. Generally, older people like hymns, and those 45 and under prefer praise songs.

I prefer a church that does a BLENDED worship service—singing some hymns and some praise songs.

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5) This issue—whether to do traditional or contemporary services has actually SPLIT some churches to the point that some of the members leave the church and start a new one. I think this is really sad, when church members can’t compromise and get along on this issue, which is not a doctrinal issue at all!

But in a Southern Baptist Church, the pastor preaches what he feels like God is leading him to preach at every service. There are different styles of preaching—exegetical, expository, topical, inductive, deductive, etc.

Topical means they preach on certain topics—a series of sermons about mothers and fathers and families around Mother’s Day & Father’s Day, for example. The pastor picks a topic, then finds Scripture that speaks to that topic and preaches on it, based around that topic.

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6) The others are more based on just following Scripture, like studying through an entire book of the Bible, so the pastor will preach from that book, starting with the first chapter, first verse, and covering as much as he feels he can cover in a 30 minute sermon, going through the book, for as long as it takes to get through it.

Hubby tends to do that most of the time—he feels it prevents him from skipping the tough topics that no one wants to hear about—their pet sins, etc.! Lol

But he will veer from that and even interrupt a book of the Bible if He feels God leading him to, in order to do a Biblical topic like family from May to June. Most of the time, though, he plans out how many sermons it’s going to take to get through a book and finishes that series in time to not have to quit it when May rolls around! There is a LOT that goes into sermon planning!

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7) Additionally, some preachers write out their entire sermons and “practice” delivering them before the worship service. Hubby doesn’t do this. He studies and writes out an outline (much like you would in school) that covers the points he wants to make in the sermon, with the Scripture verses listed under the points that he wants to cover, and a VERY brief description, and then speaks almost extemporaneously (off the cuff, without notes).

I hope that answers your question. I’m LOVING this convo! Thanks for your interest! I found it interesting to learn that the Hebrew rabbi’s duties are more similar to a Southern Baptist pastor’s duties than a minister in another Christian religion! I had NO CLUE that would be true!

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8) Bama, I didn’t mean that CoC aren’t Christians—just that in that survey, they weren’t separately noticed, so apparently they dumped them into the “Other Christian” category for that survey. I was surprised about that. I didn’t realize they don’t see it as a denomination, either. That’s surprising! Does that mean that each CoC has different doctrinal beliefs?

Although SBC churches are autonomous, most SBC churches do go by The Baptist Faith and Message, which is a document that sets out our basic doctrines.

I didn’t realize that the Robertsons are CoC. It makes a lot of sense, though. I was VERY impressed with how modest Sadie was and how modest her father expected her to be in their choice of costumes for her.

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9) That goes along with my niece talking about the fact that they don’t dance. Apparently Sadie’s family has no problem with the dancing part, but all of it has to do with sexuality and being modest, not lewd, etc. Baptists used to be very anti-dance, but that seems to be loosening, as the family weddings we attended had dancing, and they’re all Southern Baptist or Independent Baptist.

Yes, I think we tend to socialize with people that are like us, in our own little bubbles no matter who we are. I’ve posted articles about that here, that talks about that’s why conservatives were absolutely sure that DJT was going to win and liberals were determined that he had no chance—because IRL, most of us are in bubbles.

That’s actually why I came to SOH—other than wanting to learn what people were thinking about the election—to get out of my Southern Baptist Christian in AL bubble! Lol


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EXACTLY, evoecon! Thank you! Hubby would often be in meetings until 9 or 10 PM, while I was home, getting the kids to bed by myself.

I couldn’t tell you how many times we’ve been woken from a dead sleep for him to go to the hospital.

And he’s even had to fly home from one of our vacations, while we stayed at the vacation site and waited for him to do a funeral, and fly back, cutting into our days of vacation, which did NOT get made up! And even when we went on a trip to see family or vacation, he was often studying for the next Sunday’s sermons while I drove! Lol

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EXACTLY, Icamino! If you didn’t see my comments below, please read them. Every week, Tom will be posting the question for me, so that we reach more Christians, and then I will be posting a portion from an article about this for every myth, debunking the myths that people believe about their pastors.

You wouldn’t believe how many people we’ve had ask hubby, “What do you do all week, pastor?” Or “But pastors only work on Sundays!”

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This is why I said that it takes a special person to be a pastor. I think its very self sacrificing.

Thanks so much, sea! That’s a great way to put it, because you basically do sacrifice your entire life to the ministry. EVERYTHING about your life centers around the ministry.

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Are you a pastor?

Why would I have to be a pastor to hear that?

You wouldn’t have to be a pastor to hear it. But I can just about guarantee if you were a pastor, you would’ve heard it! Lol

We’ve heard it numerous times, along with, “What do pastors DO all week?” “A pastor only works 3 times a week—Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.”

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Have done, Tom! Thanks so much for posting these for me to reach more Christians! I REALLY appreciate it!

Just posted an update on your Texas church shooting poll, 4JC

Thanks, lcamino! I just answered you!

Would have participated, but 4JC and I have each other on ignore (again) so I’m going to have to sit this series out, Tom.

Tom, if you can remember, please tag me into the polls in this series. I talked to 4jc about it and she agrees. I’m pretty sure that most of these myths will apply equally to rabbis. *This* one certainly does!


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I’m SO sorry I forgot to tag you, @GrandmaAlice ! Let me go back and tag you into the first one, where I gave the intro, which was longer, and told what we’re trying to do with these polls!

Well, I went there to tag you in and saw that you cheated and got in! Lol

😊

Yes, I did!

And I “cheated” to get into this one, too. Something you said in your poll about the Texas shootings reminded me of this series.

Don’t worry about forgetting. But, if you do think of it next week, I’d appreciate it.

This myth is very relevant to synagogues and rabbis. I know that our rabbi works more than a 40-hour week.


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HaHa! I think you’re going to find that almost all of them will be relevant to your rabbi. None of them are about doctrinal issues or beliefs. Thanks for sharing my other poll about the families that lost loved ones in the church shootings. I’m a basket case tonight over it. I just can’t stop crying. My t-shirt is soaking wet from where I keep wiping my face. Your sharing it made me feel that someone cared how I felt.

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Thanks, everyone for joining us in this series of Myths that People Believe About their Pastors. We did the intro for the series last weekend. If you didn’t read my comments then, please go back and read them as they introduce and explain what we’re trying to accomplish in this series.

1. They only work on Sundays.

While a pastor’s workload varies from denomination to denomination, a LifeWay Research study found 65 percent of evangelical pastors worked over 55 hours per week and eight percent worked more than 70 hours per week. Sermon prep, meetings, administration, counseling, church activities, and personal study take up the majority of a pastor’s workweek. Most pastors take a day off during the week to make up for the weekend’s work, yet 40 percent report working seven days a week. Doesn’t sound too healthy, does it? (2 Timothy 4:5)


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I can personally tell you that my hubby, when a full time pastor, often averaged 60-80 hour work weeks. A pastor NEVER feels that all his work is done, because there is always someone else in need of help or ministering to.

Pastors often bring their burdens about people, their sins, their secrets, their health conditions, their family problems, their occupational problems, their financial problems, home with them.

It seems their work is never done, and they can’t just turn off the care they feel for their congregants when they go home.

Their work often interferes with family time and even vacation time. They’re on call 24/7/365, with no one else to take their place in times of tragedy, illness, death, etc.

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@tlaney1 , as a minister of music, do you have anything to add to this one?

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