Pastor

==History==
The word "pastor" derives from the [[Latin language|Latin]] noun {{lang|la|pastor}} which means "[[shepherd]]" and is derived from the verb {{lang|la|pascere}} – "to lead to pasture, set to grazing, cause to eat".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=pastor&searchmode=none|title=pastor|website=Online Etymology Dictionary|language=en|access-date=2018-06-10|archive-date=2017-03-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316120206/http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=pastor&searchmode=none|url-status=live}}</ref> The term "pastor" also relates to the role of [[elder (Christianity)|elder]] within the [[New Testament]], and is synonymous with the biblical understanding of [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]]. The term Pastor, Shepherd, and Elder are all the same position.  The term "Senior Pastor" does not exist in scripture, but - in multi-staffed churches - is commonly used to denote the pastor who does the preaching. Many Protestant churches call their ministers "pastors".

Present-day usage of the word is rooted in the [[Bible|Biblical]] metaphor of shepherding. The [[Hebrew Bible]] (or Old Testament) uses the [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] word {{lang|he|רעה|rtl=yes}} (''roʿeh''), which is used as a noun as in "shepherd", and as a verb as in "to tend a flock."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7462&t=KJV|title=Genesis 1:1 (KJV)|work=Blue Letter Bible|access-date=2018-06-10|language=en|archive-date=2016-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731191102/https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7462|url-status=live}}</ref> It occurs 173 times in 144 Old Testament verses and relates to the literal feeding of sheep, as in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 29:7. In [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]] [[Jeremiah 23|23]]:4, both meanings are used (''ro'im'' is used for "shepherds" and ''yir'um'' for "shall feed them"), "And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD." ([[King James Version|KJV]]).

[[File:V&A - Raphael, Christ's Charge to Peter (1515).jpg|thumb|''Christ's Charge to Peter'' by [[Raphael]], 1515. In telling Peter to feed his sheep, Christ appointed him as a ''pastor''.]]
English-language translations of the [[New Testament]] usually render the [[Greek language|Greek]] noun {{lang|grc|ποιμήν}} (''poimēn'') as "shepherd" and the Greek verb {{lang|grc|ποιμαίνω}} (''poimainō'') as "feed". The two words occur a total of 29 times in the New Testament, most frequently referring to Jesus.  For example, [[Jesus]] called himself the "Good Shepherd" in [[Gospel of John|John]] 10:11.  The same words in the familiar [[Nativity of Jesus|Christmas]] story ([[Gospel of Luke|Luke]] 2) refer to literal shepherds.

In five New Testament passages though, the words relate to members of the church:
# [[Gospel of John|John]] [[John 21|21]]:16 - [[Restoration of Peter|Jesus told Peter]]: "Feed My sheep"
# [[Acts of the Apostles|Acts]] [[Acts 20|20]]:17 - the [[Paul of Tarsus|Apostle Paul]] summons the ''[[elder (Christianity)|elders]]'' of the church in [[Ephesus]] to give a last discourse to them; in [[Acts 20:28]], he tells them that the [[Holy Spirit]] has made them ''overseers'', and they are to ''feed'' the church of God.
# [[1 Corinthians 9]]:7 - Paul says, of himself and the apostles: "who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?"
# [[Ephesians 4:11]] - Paul wrote "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, <u>pastors</u> and teachers;"
# [[First Epistle of Peter|1 Peter]] [[1 Peter 5:1|5:1]]-[[1 Peter 5:2|2]] - Peter tells the ''elders'' among his readers that they are to, "Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof"

[[Bishop]]s of various denominations often bear a formal [[crosier]] in the form of a stylised [[shepherd]]'s crook as a symbol of their pastoral/shepherding functions.