Pastoral Authority,Limits and Boundaries.

[Scott Hutchinson]

Sheperd the flock of God which is among you,serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly,nor as being lords over those who are entrusted to you,but being examples to the flock,and when the Cheif Sheperd appears,you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.1.Peter 5:9 NKJV

Let me say this that I am not anti-ministry nor am I anti-church for both of these are God-ordained.I am for pastors and saints having one.

But what are the limits and boundaries of Pastoral authority ? I understand a God called and God ordained Pastor or Bishop or Elder if you will has spritiual authority,but I also understand they are not to lord themselves over a flock of God,or to be a yes man or a absolute dictator.
So what exactly would be the boundaries and limits of Pastoral authority?

[rgcraig]

Sheperd the flock of God which is among you,serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly,nor as being lords over those who are entrusted to you,but being examples to the flock,and when the Cheif Sheperd appears,you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.1.Peter 5:9 NKJV


I think the scripture says it all.

[Sister Alvear]

ditto...

[The Kid]

I have heard pastors make the statement that they are responsible for getting you into heaven.

I reject this outright. I do not place my faith in a pastor or any man for that matter to get me into heaven.

This concept is where an unhealthy co-dependence on the church and pastor is germinated...

I believe the pastor should be a mentor and not offended if we decide to call him Pastor (first name).

Jesus came to earth to be one of us, pastors should be willing to do the same.*




*some but not all pastors and usually the pastors with churches >200.

[mfblume]

Pastors are supposed to relate to saints what the bible teaches and cannot tell who should marry whom, or when we can go on vacation, or demand what we give to God in offerings... etc. etc. etc. lol

...Among many other things.

[The Kid]

Pastors are supposed to relate to saints what the bible teaches and cannot tell who should marry whom, or when we can go on vacation, or demand what we give to God in offerings... etc. etc. etc. lol

...Among many other things.

I agree, but this scenario while rampant in the Apostolic church is rather extreme when considering the universe of pastors.

MF, what do you think is the MOST COMMON or global characteristic(s) of pastors throughout the more prominant of the Apostolic organizations in the spirit of this thread?

We can talk about 1sies and 2sies pastors all day...

[LadyRev]

Pastors are supposed to relate to saints what the bible teaches and cannot tell who should marry whom, or when we can go on vacation, or demand what we give to God in offerings... etc. etc. etc. lol

...Among many other things.

OK, stop with the bold and preach awhile right there...

I'll pass my soap box over to you.

[MamaHen]

Though written by a trinitarian, an excellent book I am reading right now, that goes into the New Testament model of church, is "Reimagining Church" by Frank Viola. Ignoring the "trinity" stuff, it is an excellent book. It goes pretty in-depth into biblical eldership.

[Sept5SavedTeen]

Let me say this that I am not anti-ministry nor am I anti-church for both of these are God-ordained.I am for pastors and saints having one.

I'm for saints having 2, 3, 4, maybe even 5 pastors! An assembly of 100 could have 4 or 5 elders, 8 or 9 deacons... think of the possibilities! And the elders could be responsible for things on Sunday morning in the public gathering meeting time, and they could each be responsible for a home church meeting every week- at their home! We're trying to get to that place in my assembly.

-Bro. Alex

[ManOfWord]

OK, let me get on my soap box here:

The CHIEF responsibility of the Pastor is SERVE the sheep. Care for them. Protect them by feeding them the right foods and leading them into the right pastures. He is an overseer of the flock as an under-shepherd. He is not a dictator, their Father, their saviour, or their pope.

Serve much and people will follow you. Serve little and you will feel the need to exercise more and more authority to get them to follow you. However, they will only follow for a short while on those terms and will eventually leave or turn on you! (because that is what they were taught to do by your example) That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it! :D

[mfblume]

I agree, but this scenario while rampant in the Apostolic church is rather extreme when considering the universe of pastors.

MF, what do you think is the MOST COMMON or global characteristic(s) of pastors throughout the more prominant of the Apostolic organizations in the spirit of this thread?

We can talk about 1sies and 2sies pastors all day...

I am not sure what you are asking, but let me start by saying the common, SENSIBLE boundaries of most pastors, I think, is not going beyond simply sharing truth and allowing people to choose to obey it or not, without forcing them to do so in a militant manner. We can share what we believe the bible teaches about any given issue, but we must stop when it comes to making a person do anything. We cannot make a person do something, but suggest what we fell would be God's will.

Is that the sort of thing you are looking for? Please clarify.

[The Kid]

I am not sure what you are asking, but let me start by saying the common, SENSIBLE boundaries of most pastors, I think, is not going beyond simply sharing truth and allowing people to choose to obey it or not, without forcing them to do so in a militant manner. We can share what we believe the bible teaches about any given issue, but we must stop when it comes to making a person do anything. We cannot make a person do something, but suggest what we fell would be God's will.

Is that the sort of thing you are looking for? Please clarify.

I think to an extent all UPC pastors have a militant perspective regarding some things. Even the small towner who has his mind made up that he is going to conquor the mainstream religion in his town instead of warming up to it.

I think many men come from big churches and expect to impose...if you will... the same paradigms (worship, church extracurricular attendance, standards, etc.) on a handful of people in a home missions church.

[Scott Hutchinson]

I certainly don't agree with these people on everything they preach and teach doctrinally,but this article has some valid points.http://batteredsheep.com/authoritarianism.html

[mfblume]

I think to an extent all UPC pastors have a militant perspective regarding some things. Even the small towner who has his mind made up that he is going to conquor the mainstream religion in his town instead of warming up to it.

I think many men come from big churches and expect to impose...if you will... the same paradigms (worship, church extracurricular attendance, standards, etc.) on a handful of people in a home missions church.

That may be true. Imposing things on people is never right. When I heard some pastors tell their saints when to have vacation, I thought that was insane!