A community pastor is a spiritual leader or guide who delivers a divine message to the congregation of Christian denomination. He helps people strengthen their faith by preaching sermons of passages from the holy bible. They are eligible to perform weddings, funerals and baptisms in the church and actively participate in poor feeding and helping the disabled, troubled, lonely and broken people. Being a pastor has its own benefits, major one being the divine beauty of being close to God and helping others in their spiritual journey. Here we will see about Community Pastor Job Description.
What do community pastors do ?
A pastor works towards strengthening the church congregation in their spiritual pursuit. They provide leadership and emotional support to the church members. A community pastor also looks after the church administration and communicates directly with the church authorities in order to implement any new policies for the welfare of the congregation. Many times a pastor is also expected to go on house visits to pray for the elderly, sick and homeless people to provide their divine counsel and comfort in the time of need.
What do you require to become a community pastor?
The basic requirement to become a community pastor is a bachelor’s degree in theology or religious bible studies. However, to become a senior pastor one must have a master’s degree or a doctoral degree in theology, liberal arts, ministry studies or divinity.
Apart from having the required education qualifications, a pastor must have-:
- An in-depth knowledge about the old and new testaments in the Holy Bible.
- The ability to comprehend and interpret the testaments and verses.
- He should be able to convert the difficult passages into layman terms in order to impart easily understandable sermons to the congregation.
- Great communication skills both verbal as well as written.
- Necessary empathetic and counseling skills as they will even help people overcome grief and other life altering events.
- A keen time sense and management skills in order to handle the challenging church duties effectively.
- Strong pastoral ethics and a moral character as he will serve as a religious example to the worshipers.
- He should possess strong leadership qualities in order to be able to lead a team of members.
- He must have an unending passion towards working to create a close connection of church members with Jesus.
- A pastor must be polite, patient and humble as he will have to deal with congregants with different mindsets.
- He must be able to lead people to reconciliation in an amicable way and should be focused on community building.
The salary of a community pastor
The average salary of a community pastor according to the U.S reports is estimated anywhere between $83,600 and $113,300. This estimate may vary according to the financial condition of the hiring church, seniority level and years of work experience in serving the church.
What are the duties of a community pastor?
A pastor has a variety of tasks to handle and some of the duties are: –
- They are expected to deliver insightful sermons to the congregation for which they have to research about how to present biblical texts to the audience to meet their spiritual requirements.
- A community pastor performs weddings, baptisms, funerals and other special occasions that hold value to the members of the church.
- They look after the church administration and discuss various issues with other church employees and higher authorities to enable the welfare of the church and its members.
- On a daily basis, pastors start their day with answering queries of the churchgoers via email and messages. Providing emotional and spiritual counsel and guidance is something that they actively indulge in at any given time.
- They hold meetings with the congregants to understand their spiritual needs and guide them accordingly.
- They closely inspect budgets and hold meetings with colleagues to discuss future events.
- Look after Sunday school curriculum and plan innovative programs to engage children and youth.
- They schedule and supervise youth retreats and other events that are directed in shaping the divine concept in the young members of the church.
- They also conduct bible classes and studies which are aimed at imparting knowledge about the Holy bible and its importance in our lives.
The qualities a good pastor must possess
In the true sense a good pastor is one who has a strong faith in God and who prays fervently. He is somebody who has great oratory skills and a deep insight which enables him to deliver spiritually strong sermons to the congregants. Sometimes members of the church need help when they go astray or are emotionally disturbed, at such times a pastor should be able to pray, counsel and lead these members towards the divine peace that they are seeking. Further, a good pastor is one who always looks for opportunities to bring out a positive change in their community and be of help to the members by organizing charitable and uplifting events like poor feeding, holding fundraisers, hosting and leading donation campaigns etc.
To whom exactly do pastors report to?
A community pastor typically reports to a senior pastor or a bishop at the local or state level. In case of acquiring information regarding their preaching timetable and future events, they consult the head pastor or other leaders of the church administration. A community pastor first works at the beginner level under the supervision of a head pastor and then gradually works his way up to the senior level with experience.
Preaching and Teaching go hand in hand
The most important responsibility of a pastor is to spread the word of God to the believers. They dedicate their time and energy into understanding the Bible and preaching it to the masses. Sunday sermons are an integral part of the Christian faith and pastors spend hours translating the biblical text into material that is engaging and relevant to the current scenario.
As a part of their spiritual calling, they lead an exemplary life by displaying patience, empathy, love and understanding to others. They’re often called to preach in hospitals, wellness centers, correctional facilities, rehabilitation centers and other areas of growth and development. Because their preaching is something that can bring out a revolutionary change in people who most need it.
Some of their teaching responsibilities include monitoring bible studies or group discussions, volunteering youth events and conducting bible classes. Here they teach the word of God to the students of theology who are interested in further taking up a job as a pastor.
How do they look after the church administration?
The duties like account keeping, fundraising, keeping a check on the staff, providing assistance in hiring new employees and firing problematic ones all come under the administrative duties that a pastor looks after. They also schedule meetings to discuss with the church authorities and board members about matters like financial situation, long-term planning and growing of the community and upcoming programs. Daily tasks of a community pastor include attending community events, analyzing and approving expenditures and handling media related queries in case of bigger churches with a huge congregation.
Officiating different events
A pastor is expected to be emotionally available at the time of need for a member of the church when a sudden tragedy strikes them. Because church members depend on prayer and assistance of a pastor as he is closely connected to God and professes his undying faith clearly. A pastor performs last rites and is expected to preach a hopeful message that gives hope to the family of the deceased and uplifts their spirits. They even host wedding ceremonies and baptisms in order to strengthen family bonds and bless the people with divine sanctity. In case of Christmas programs or Sunday worship service, prior to the event itself they closely work with the choir team and help in the decoration of the church and organization of different programs.
How do pastors lead an exemplary life?
A community pastor leads a life devoted to Jesus and prayer, he leads a righteous life devoid of immoral activities and practices repentance, forgiveness and humility. They spend their time reading and understanding the word of God and they indulge in hours of prayer and worship every day. They try to set an example for others within the church and community by forsaking worldly ways and material things and seeking divine purity and guidance. They believe in the peace that God provides that they believe is much more valuable than what the world can ever offer, hence they willingly surrender themselves entirely in service of God and the community.
In what ways do pastors serve the community and try to make it a better place?
Apart from preaching and teaching the word of God, a pastor also defends it when the situation demands. He comforts the afflicted and consoles the grief-stricken congregants of the church when needed. A community or society comprises of different kinds of individuals going through different types of problems in their life and sometimes people fall into harmful habits to cope with stress and may deviate from the love of God or just wander about so it is a pastor’s duty to confront sinners and lead them back to church, by teaching them the importance of a prayer life and encouraging them to understand the glory in repentance and salvation. Sometimes pastors can be faced with challenging, hopeless and problematic individuals who need help the most but are not ready to receive it. At these times pastors must act with patience and perseverance in order to change such people because God chose them for bringing about a transformation in their lives.
Conclusion
According to survey reports, the scope of pastoral jobs is bound to increase in the near future. If you’re someone that has the patience, empathy and other above listed skills to help others in finding themselves and growing connected to God then a community pastor job might be the best fit for you.
