Pastors and elders
Dr Dave Kimber
Date posted: 1 Feb 2016
Dear Sir,
Mike Mellor (en, January 2016) tells us
that we must recognise that there will be ‘a
first among equals’ – whom we fondly call
‘The Pastor’. Where in Scripture do we find
this? Certainly not 1 Timothy 5.17, for there
both
the elders and
the subset of elders
whose work is preaching and teaching are
clearly plural. Scripture never refers to a ruling elder (is there some other kind of elder?)
as ‘Pastor’, but reserves this term for those
whose
calling
and gifting
is pastoring
(whether or not they are also elders).