Why is the preacher of a church called a pastor when many do not meet the qualifications?
542015
Because satan goes to church too and even runs alot of the church politics - sad isn't it?
360839
The vast majority of Christians blindly follow the leadership of the church they attend. Subjects taught in bible study and from the pulpit are carefully constructed so as to leave no unanswered questions. Some life long Christians will even deny the stories to which you refer.\n\nIt is astonishing some of the hoops people will jump through to explain away these stories in the bible. It is ridiculous.
159958
That COULD happen, and probably would to an ordinary guy, but if the preacher felt like God was sending him to go preach there, then it would probably be MORE dangerous to stay in the US and ignore God!
984197
I think its "priests" the ones that are "parishable"  Pastors do not have "parishes".
238235
Each Baptist congegation is autonomous. The main thing is that one who preaches must be called through the Holy Ghost. Most Baptist pastors must complete college and seminary now. It really is a very competitive field.
96259
You are correct, it is unbiblical for a preacher to require members to tithe of income. Also tithing was always food never money and the tithe was always eaten by the tither. Read Deut. 12 and 14. Can a church survive? Yes but not as a mega church. the churches would be smaller and be more quality than quantity (Jesus himself only had twelve apostles). Eliminate tithing and the pastor is forced to live by faith, not many of them want to do that though.Our church does not believe in tithing of income nor do I take an offering(some do give anyway). When God decides it is time to close up then we will close up. All churches should run on faith not business tactics. The only thing most pastors have faith in is their ability to con their members out of more money.\n\nAnd in Malachi when it mentions will a man rob God(preachers love that one) no one mentions that this is written to the Levitical priests Mal 2:1. It was the priests stealing the tithe from the tithers. It must be an honest mistake that they forgot this. lol. Malachi 3:8 ties in with I Samuel 2:12-17. There were corrupt priests stealing then and there are corrupt preachers stealing now. I can hear the lake of fire calling for them now. Shhh listen and you will hear it also, it sound sorta like this 'will the ushers please come forward'
282225
You can't trust any pastor.
628031
I'll settle for anyone who is genuine and real up in the pulpit and isn't like these professionals who always preach the wrong sermon. There they are talking on some topic while the church is burning down. The sermon should be, "Fire, fire everybody out," if you understand this metaphor. Instead they argue doctrine or joke or repeat sermon number 105. A woman with some sense just might be a welcome change. She just might tell the congregation that the church has lost its saltiness. My, wouldn't that be a revelation!
172444
There aren't any qualifications in the bible for women pastors.  They aren't supposed to be pastors.  God has given that leadership only to men that meet the qualifications.
806676
I think it depends on the pastor marrying them, the church, and the denomination sometimes. There isn't a set of rules like that that goes for every church. They should maybe look at some other ones?
827624
Sounds dangerous.  The apostles appointed deacons so they wouldn't have to attend to the day-to-day business of the church.  Without checks & balances, human nature can cause problems, to say the least.  For the worst, look at PTL, Enron, WorldCom... CEOs who don't have internal controls over their organizations get in trouble with this.  The pastor could be considered the CEO for the local church, so the same rules should apply.
563940
Pastors getting paid would fall under the doctrine of Balaam, which Revelation warns about.\n\nThe example we see in the groups of believers that fellowshiped together in the New Testament are that tithes were given and the money divided so that all had what they needed.  This is practical Christianity and is not practiced hardly anyway today.  \n\nThe position of "pastor" as we see in most fundamental Christian churches has NO scriptural basis.  This would fall under the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which scripture also warns about.\n\nSo, elders and overseers of the local groups of believers were the teachers, not one pastor.  There is no scriptural basis for a "paying" elder's job, much less a "paid" person we call a pastor.
895870
Tracy, unfortunately it sounds as if you have gotten a preacher who has other things on his mind than ministering to the whole flock. A good pastor shouldn't care about the financial or social standing of his congregation. He should love,honor,respect,guide, and comfort every member of his church regardless of their social standing or financial wealth. The fact that he failed to lend comfort and support to the church members who had deaths in their families is unacceptable. Perhaps the deacons and the other church elders need to get together and decide what must be done about him. Good luck and God bless.
569455
You know lookin at churches I have seen it looks as if. The most popular people in school were christian, and beautiful. And skinny. I see what you mean, kinda. The preacher would not be there if he were not popular and looked good enough, and had a respectable background. This varies for every religion, but if you are not blonde white and rich , you might as well fughetaboutit. \nGod does not like unpopular people because they would get less people to church.
19874
This may also apply to people born before the birth of Christ, who didn't really have the opportunity to be Christian.  The answer, accoring to some pastors, is that ultimately God sorts it out in the end, makes a list and checks it twice, finds out whos' naughty or nice, etc.
403602
Because many people do not exert the effort to read the Bible.  The Bible, by the way, does not even support having a clergy class (which would include "pastors") in the first place.\n\nThe early Christian congregations described in the New Testament did not have such a class.  Instead, the responsibilities were shared by all members, who were guided by the older men.\n\nThere were "overseers", but this term seems to apply only loosely within the congregation.  They seem to be mainly responsible for coordinating activty between congregations and purging the congregations of those who would corrupt it with false beliefs.\n\nThe Bible tells us the the road to salvation is small and cramped and few will find it.  Don't look to an organiztion of tens of millions to know such a road.
15828
There is no "blanket rule", so it comes down to guidelines from the specific denomination, and at times, availability of a pastor or the specific facility.  E.g. always booked on Sundays for regular services, very buys on Saturdays with services or preparations for Sunday, the pastor is tired on Mondays, and needs a "one day breather".\n\nIf you have a specific church/facility in mind, ask them for their guidelines/availabilities, and reasons for it.