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I was reading articles about the Charleston shooting, and that is being discussed elsewhere. But something small kept jumping out at me as I read all the articles, and the statements by various witnesses and family members.
Several of the victims, plus several witnesses and family members are identified as pastors of that particular church. I haven't been to church since I was younger, and I've attended Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches, but they each only had one pastor/minister at any given time. This was the man (and nowadays often a woman) who preaches, says the sermon, and otherwise leads the whole congregation. Plus they were in charge of all the business of the church. It sounds like this AME church has lots of pastors.
I went to the AME church website, but I don't see anything about having a lot of pastors.
Just wondering, why do they have so many, and do they all take turns giving Sunday sermons? or is there one chief pastor, and all the others just kind of help out?
I also noticed that a large number of employees in my company tend to include on their resumes, or tell people in conversation that they are "pastors" too. I'm not sure what churches they belong to, but I can't imagine they are all in an AME church. And if they work for my company full time, I can't imagine them being a full-time pastor of a whole church. Many of them don't even have a degree, much less a divinity degree. Many just have a high school diploma.
Does anyone know why some churches (and which ones) seem to have lots and lots of pastors? Do some churches see "pastor" and "minister" as something different from each other? Do they see "pastor" as something people do voluntarily or part-time, without being the official head of a church? Again, my experience is limited, but I've only know the "pastor" to be an individual person who did the job full-time and who was in charge of a whole church.
Please don't get into specific discussion here of the horrible events in Charleston. This stupid little thread of mine isn't the place.
See some churches has teaching for everyone and have a strong evidence of Holy Spirit in their attendants and the gifts of pastor from Holy Spirit along with a study one could be ordained into ministry , they may not be paid for the job and they may even preach to people , and some Pastors may not preach at all ....................... Then there are other gifts of Holy Spirit Like the prophet and the teacher , the evangelist and even some may be sent as apostles to start new Churches ...................Where as is other institutional church one or two or three pastors may be the limit and even new Pastors will come in from the head office ,............. See there are many different types of churches , as Jesus accepted churches and knows their tolerances ......I know this unpaid Pastor who has a job as elder in the Church and He has to register His Reverence ordination as a Pastor every year or two or He will lose the registration
An interesting question. I have read there is licensed, and ordained ministry. The ordained is more permanent, and the licensed ministers are tied to a particular church. It is entirely possible to have many licensed ministers in a congregation.
Emanuell serves the entire Charleston peninsula including visitors, and tourists. I imagine having many licensed ministers is a blessing.
Many ministers serve without pay. Many hold full time jobs in the community.
Read the 6th paragraph of the OPs post. That is the question.
Pastor has always meant Head of the church at any church I knew anything about. Only 1 pastor. I know the Catholic Church has changed Asst. Pastor to Parochial Vicar.
I'm from the time of a church with 400 to 500 families and only 1 pastor. Plus the housekeeper/bookkeeper/ organist/cook/secretary (one person).
Being a pastor does not necessarily mean an employee of the church, but a leader with some area of responsibility. We use the term "minister" and "ministry" to describe leadership roles invarious functions.
An interesting question. I have read there is licensed, and ordained ministry. The ordained is more permanent, and the licensed ministers are tied to a particular church. It is entirely possible to have many licensed ministers in a congregation.
Emanuell serves the entire Charleston peninsula including visitors, and tourists. I imagine having many licensed ministers is a blessing.
Many ministers serve without pay. Many hold full time jobs in the community.
It's done in different ways, actually. I'm licensed as a pastor through my missionary agency. I'm not "temporary", or any less permanent than anyone else. This is just done by a church or organization filing paperwork with the state. They do not ordain because they are not a church.
I am also licensed through my denomination. With this, they give me 3 years to study for ordination. Next summer I will go before a group of 6 men who will drill me with questions for about 3 hours or so to see what I know, and what I don't know. They'll also ask questions regarding my views of ministry. At that point they'll either recommend I am ordained or not. If they approve me I will have a service at which time some other ordained pastors will pray for and ordain me as a minister of the Gospel. At that point I am allowed to use the title "Reverend".
Other churches don't have the ordination process quite like that. One of my former classmates was ordained while serving as an assistant pastor. He asked his senior pastor to be ordained and they ordained him--there was no examination.
In this church they apparently choose to be a lot more free in their ordination process. Many churches have a plurality of elders, and this church probably ordains their elders.
It's done in different ways, actually. I'm licensed as a pastor through my missionary agency. I'm not "temporary", or any less permanent than anyone else. This is just done by a church or organization filing paperwork with the state. They do not ordain because they are not a church.
I am also licensed through my denomination. With this, they give me 3 years to study for ordination. Next summer I will go before a group of 6 men who will drill me with questions for about 3 hours or so to see what I know, and what I don't know. They'll also ask questions regarding my views of ministry. At that point they'll either recommend I am ordained or not. If they approve me I will have a service at which time some other ordained pastors will pray for and ordain me as a minister of the Gospel. At that point I am allowed to use the title "Reverend".
Other churches don't have the ordination process quite like that. One of my former classmates was ordained while serving as an assistant pastor. He asked his senior pastor to be ordained and they ordained him--there was no examination.
In this church they apparently choose to be a lot more free in their ordination process. Many churches have a plurality of elders, and this church probably ordains their elders.
Do you study in a formal academic setting, or is study with others in the ministry? Do you become ordained and obtain a secular degree?
We have a 1 year discernment period, 3 years of seminary, 1 year of internship/placement, final examination and interviews then we are ordained.
Until the laying on of the hands and the ordination, we are referred to as candidate, student minister, postulant etc.
The denomination I serve can have multiple minister's on staff, but usually it is only 1. To have multiples you generally need a very large church. My current church, as well as my last one, the membership was around 350 - 400 and I was the solo minister. Previously I was one of 3 minister's on staff, but we had a congregation of ~1,000 and all of us had very different roles.
I was reading articles about the Charleston shooting, and that is being discussed elsewhere. But something small kept jumping out at me as I read all the articles, and the statements by various witnesses and family members.
Several of the victims, plus several witnesses and family members are identified as pastors of that particular church. I haven't been to church since I was younger, and I've attended Methodist, Episcopal, and Presbyterian churches, but they each only had one pastor/minister at any given time. This was the man (and nowadays often a woman) who preaches, says the sermon, and otherwise leads the whole congregation. Plus they were in charge of all the business of the church. It sounds like this AME church has lots of pastors.
I went to the AME church website, but I don't see anything about having a lot of pastors.
Just wondering, why do they have so many, and do they all take turns giving Sunday sermons? or is there one chief pastor, and all the others just kind of help out?
I also noticed that a large number of employees in my company tend to include on their resumes, or tell people in conversation that they are "pastors" too. I'm not sure what churches they belong to, but I can't imagine they are all in an AME church. And if they work for my company full time, I can't imagine them being a full-time pastor of a whole church. Many of them don't even have a degree, much less a divinity degree. Many just have a high school diploma.
Does anyone know why some churches (and which ones) seem to have lots and lots of pastors? Do some churches see "pastor" and "minister" as something different from each other? Do they see "pastor" as something people do voluntarily or part-time, without being the official head of a church? Again, my experience is limited, but I've only know the "pastor" to be an individual person who did the job full-time and who was in charge of a whole church.
Please don't get into specific discussion here of the horrible events in Charleston. This stupid little thread of mine isn't the place.
I am guessing it might simply be a large church- and especially one with multiple ministries.
As an Orthodox Christian who was raised Anglican- I have been to a couple of Orthodox or Anglican Parishes that had multiple priests. Typically they would be larger with a senior rector and one or two vickers who will lead the service if the rector is unable. Then in my experience with non Liturgical churches (most protestants) some of the larger churches especially will have multiple pastors who run differnt ministries
for example a youth pastor directing Sunday school and youth groups
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