This week I was chatting with someone who curiously asked me: “What does a pastor do?” Unsurprisingly, it’s a question I get from people inside and outside of the church. Sometimes it’s asked with a note of interested inquisitiveness, and other times with a hint of jaded cynicism. Either way it can be awkward to give an answer without feeling like you’re self-justifying your schedule, significance, or salary. Well, let me ignore all the awkwardness and try to simply explain what a pastor does – at least an ordinary and biblically faithful pastor. Read more»
Kyle Borg, “What Does A Pastor Do?” Gentle Reformation (Apr 1, 2021)
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R. Scott Clark
R.Scott Clark is the President of the Heidelberg Reformation Association, the author and editor of, and contributor to several books and the author of many articles. He has taught church history and historical theology since 1997 at Westminster Seminary California. He has also taught at Wheaton College, Reformed Theological Seminary, and Concordia University. He has hosted the Heidelblog since 2007.
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Thanks be to God for pastors. I have been blessed to sit under two URCNA pastors for the past 20 years who have diligently and faithfully prepared their sermons, lifting Christ crucified as our only hope, mending weary and broken saints each week, administering the sacraments, leading weekly prayer meetings and study groups, visiting, and counseling. And they have done this in all spiritual weather, be it sunshine or storm in their own lives. May we faithfully pray for them and their families, that God would strengthen them, encourage them, and protect them and their families, and that God would raise up men for pastorate.
There is no more difficult (or rewarding) job than being an effective Pastor of a Godly church. Outside of the “work” as described in the article, there is the weight of being responsible before God for every word spoken from the pulpit, the carrying of weight of the cares and concerns of the congregants which often involves extremely emotionally draining experiences, and being under the microscope of continual judgement by those inside and outside the church. All this while in the cross-hairs of Satan. God bless our Pastors!