SHELBYVILLE, IL. — What does a pastor do?

          

To those who do not go to church, the pastor’s role looks to be very easy, but it is far from it. The word pastor is translated from the word shepherd. Think about what a shepherd does, he guides the sheep away from danger and into a safe place with food and water. This is essentially what a pastor does to his people. We do not think that the members of our congregation are mindless animals, but we do see our role as carefully and lovingly guiding our people toward the Lord.

The role of a pastor is outlined by Paul in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. These passages give the character, integrity, faith, home life, and love of a pastor. But I know that this is not the direction that this question was meant to go; they wanted to know what we do on a day by day and week by week basis.

 Each pastor has their own schedule that works best for them and their congregation, but each week it is safe to say that most pastors do the following. We study, a lot. When you see us preach on Sunday morning, or teach through the week, you are seeing only a small amount of time it has taken to prepare. Some sermons take merely hours to prepare while others take 10-20 hours, it fluctuates upon the style of sermon and the depth of each verse discussed.

We plan a lot too. We have the luxury of being behind the scenes on every major event or happenings around the church. We spend a lot of time planning out events, making calls, lining up workers, hashing out details, and then being at each event to set up and break down.

Throughout the week we also visit. These are hospital visits, nursing home visits, and also visiting new believers, potential members, and members. If we don’t schedule it out, we will spend all our time visiting with people (most of us would not mind that at all).

Most of all we love on our people. I have a small, yet growing congregation, but each person needs to be ministered to differently. Some want a great sermon, some want a listening ear, and some want me to come and chat with them. Our job is to show them God’s love in His word in a way they can understand, and direct them in how to live like what the bible says. It is not easy being a pastor, we are expected to be many things to many people, but the blessings are incredible.

When you see your pastor, give him a hug, tell him how much you love him and how much he means to you and your family, he needs the encouragement. If you don’t have a pastor, come to our church, I would love to be yours.



Chase Smith is the pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in Shelbyville. For more information from Chase or the church call 774-3636 or visit www.fellowshipinshelbyville.com.