Elders are Pastors

[PastorMark]

Laniak notes that the elders are instructed to “shepherd” (poimano) the church/flock of God in Acts 20:28 and 1 Peter 5:2. The infinitive and imperative verb forms of the term are used in these instances, indicating that elders are individuals whose responsibility is to shepherd/pastor those under their care. Furthermore, this task/activity is given to these groups of elders as a whole (not only a select group of them), suggesting that the role of elder by definition involves pastoring. This observation raises the question: Are the terms elder (presbuteros, episkopos) and pastor (poimen) used interchangeably in the NT? Since this arguably is the case, this fact would indicate that all true elders are also pastors.

Perhaps this apparent NT paradigm is only descriptive, and not intended to be prescriptive. If so, the varying conceptions of the definition and role of elders displayed throughout church history are more or less non-controversial, biblically speaking. In this view, forms of church leadership and governance would be flexible matters of contextualization within biblical parameters.

On the other hand, if the NT paradigm of local church leadership is intended to be normative, it would seem that greater alignment with it is generally in order in the contemporary church. But even on this view, since there apparently was a diversity of responsibilities among elders in the early church, as Paul indicates, for instance in 1 Timothy 5:17: “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching,” this would seem to suggest that the role of an elder can be expressed in a variety of ways. Perhaps the practice of distinguishing between ruling elders, teaching elders, governing boards, boards of trustees etc. is an acceptable and faithful application of the biblical concept of shepherding.
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Mark Carlsson