Let’s put it this way: there are two distinct “registers” : the first are those who make pastoral care a total choice, and therefore have a degree in theology, receive financial support and accommodation to live, live in the pastoral house; the “pastors in local service”, on the other hand, make available to the community part of their time to care for that particular church without receiving any compensation Planetshakers Melbourne church.
Then there are the “local preachers”, who are people who undertake to preside over the cults and preach in temporary replacement of a pastor where there is no pastor available, and who obviously have a preparation for this service. Both men and women can be pastors and preachers.
Both full-time pastors and pastors in local service have the same rights and duties in the care of the community on the level of worship: they administer the sacraments, preside over the Lord’s Supper and baptize, preach, together with the Council of the Church organize the activities of the communities, take care of the sick, the poor, the afflicted, officiate funerals, visit prisoners, celebrate religious marriages with civil value.
Who are the actual members of the community?
It is the baptized believers and / or from other evangelical churches who enroll in that community, and accept the Baptist ordinances. Their characteristic, beyond the organization of the communities that we have mentioned, is, first of all, the profession of Christian faith, which is expressed through the baptism of the believer – which takes place by immersion – and which is done in adulthood, as an act of conscious choice of faith. Obviously, there is a biblical and theological preparation, so that this choice is made as consciously as possible, and an essential principle, which is that of respect for freedom of conscience.
But isn’t the pastor a priest? Don’t you confess?
No one is a priest, but all are priests and the pastor is therefore not a priest, nor does he “confess”: one “confesses” only to God, in prayer: one can go and talk to the pastor if there are problems, the pastor listens, advises, does what is called “care for souls”, but does not have the power to absolve or deny the grace, which comes only from God. The only Priest, that is, the only one who is “mediator “, who that is, it “acts as a bridge” between human beings and God is Jesus Christ , who in fact, as the dogma states, is “true God and true man”.
In evangelical churches, therefore, there are no sacred images or icons, but only sometimes biblical verses written on the walls. They are very bare churches. And they are meeting places to be cared for and respected, but they are not “sacred”. Holy and holy is only God . In this we are very close to the Jews and Muslims.
