Download the Church leaders: 10 essential duties of a pastor
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If you ask a dozen Christians what they think their pastors do in a given week, you’ll likely get almost a dozen different answers. This isn’t because people don’t understand what a pastor does—though that may be the case—so much as it is because pastors do (and are often expected to do) many different tasks! To be sure, there are biblical descriptions of what a pastor is expected to do, but there is also wiggle room for how all of those tasks apply in our modern context, and how those tasks are divided up among church staff.
Without getting into all of the duties of every single pastor on a church staff, let’s dive into the fundamental roles of a senior or lead pastor. What are the duties of a pastor according to scripture, and how does that shape the pastoral role in our current church contexts? Let’s run through 10 duties of a pastor according to the Bible:
If a pastor does not maintain their trustworthiness as a steward and teacher of God’s word and the foundational truths of the Christian faith, everything else can quickly fall apart. Pastors are called to be the primary preachers and teachers among the congregations they lead, and this is the primary mode by which they fulfill their calling to equip the saints for the work of ministry. This includes upholding sound doctrine (Titus 1:9), and is part of a pastor’s responsibility to equip the saints (Ephesians 4:11-12).
A common misconception about pastors is that they are the people who do ministry, and the congregation receives the ministry of the pastoral staff. This confusion is understandable, especially among new believers, when you consider that pastors are paid to do the work of ministry leadership. But the Bible calls pastors to equip Christians to do ministry.
So the congregation joins pastors in doing the work of ministry leadership, and it is through the preaching and teaching of the Bible that the congregation is given the tools to do ministry in accordance with sound doctrine and biblical principles.
Jesus is the ultimate, good shepherd who leads the sheep that are God’s people. But pastors are called to follow behind Jesus as shepherds of the sheep, too. Sheep are not very bright animals, and it can be tempting to be offended that the Bible refers to people as sheep so often. But it’s an apt analogy. When it comes to matters of faith and right living, we wander around and make foolish decisions just like sheep often do when they aren’t led to where they need to go. Jesus is the ultimate shepherd, and the pastors who lead our churches are called and equipped to follow in his footsteps, keeping the sheep in line and protecting them from running off cliffs or committing other acts of foolishness.
Of course, sometimes this means that the sheep get frustrated at their shepherd—Christians sometimes get frustrated at their pastors—but that does not negate the call of the pastor to do the hard work of leading the sheep.
The pastor is the chief counselor and conflict resolution agent of the local church, including crisis and grief support (Romans 12:15) as well as conflict resolution (Matthew 18:15-17).
Often, lead pastors who do not have extensive counseling training will hire other staff members (who may or may not be pastors) to help in counseling work, especially when it comes to more complex counseling matters that may require partnership with physicians. But it is the responsibility of the pastor to care for the souls of the people in their church, and counseling is as much, if not more, a part of that work as preaching and teaching.
The lead pastor is also the primary leader of the church staff. Many churches, especially those of a certain size, have executive pastors on staff who do much of the HR and staff management, but they usually report to the lead pastor as well.
Caring for church staff is an important, and sometimes overlooked, part of being a lead pastor. Being on a church staff in any capacity, not just the role of pastor, is hard work, and the pastor is wise to care well for their staff. Leading staff with the heart of Christ is just as important as preaching the gospel of Christ.
All Christians are called to pray for one another, of course, but the pastor is not exempt from this call. It pleases the heart of God when the pastor prays for their people. Also, because being a pastor can lead to some interpersonal conflict within the church, the pastor who prays for their congregation is less likely to become bitter when conflict does arise. Prayer on behalf of congregants is important for the role it plays in petitioning God and the role it plays in softening the heart of the pastor.
It is important that the pastor not have “tunnel vision” and only care about the people who show up to church most Sundays. The pastor is called to do ministry outside the walls of the church. This includes visiting the sick, sharing the gospel with the broader community, caring for the elderly, helping the needy, and other such forms of ministry.
Ordinances and sacraments—such as baptisms, communion, and other sacramental services— are an integral part of worship. Pastors lead in these forms of worship and must take great care, especially among some more low-church worship environments, to ensure that congregants aren’t “going through the motions” as they engage in these forms of worship. The pastor should have a robust theology of ordinances and sacraments and instruct the congregation in kind.
All Christians are called to disciple others—we see this in the Great Commission, a commission given to disciples, not exclusively church leaders. So, naturally, pastors must mentor and disciple other Christians, too. In fact, the pastor should lead the charge in this kind of work and be a model of what it looks like to disciple others. It would be wise for the pastor to equip others in the church to disciple effectively, and this starts with doing some discipling themself.
Again, if a church is of a certain size, it is likely that an executive pastor would be the primary steward of a church’s financial resources. However, in churches in which that isn’t the case, it is the lead pastor’s responsibility to ensure that tithes and offerings are being handled with utmost transparency and honesty. The lead pastor is ultimately accountable before God for handling congregants’ money with integrity and wisdom.
Outside of these more specific ministry responsibilities, the pastor is generally responsible for practical ministry administration. Like many of the duties listed above, if an executive pastor is on staff they likely help with much of this work. But, it is ultimately the responsibility of the senior pastor to ensure that the church functions as an outpost of gospel ministry on a day-to-day basis.
Many Christians wrongly believe pastors work on Sundays and maybe do some sermon prep and hospital visitation throughout the week. Being a pastor is hard work. It is not uncommon for pastors to burn out, struggle with mental health issues, and feel like they have to hide all of that for the sake of the church.
Churches and Christians should support and love their pastors, recognizing that pastors are normal people who need the Spirit of God—and rest as much as anyone else.
