Pastors in the context of "Presbyterian Church"

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⭐ Core Definition: Pastors

A pastor (abbreviated to "PsPr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained. In Methodism, pastors may be either licensed or ordained.

The New Testament typically uses the words "bishops" (Acts 20:28) and "presbyter" (1 Peter 5:1) to indicate the ordained leadership in early Christianity. However, the word "pastor" (ποιμήν/poimēn) is only used one time to describe church leadership in the New Testament in Ephesians 4:11 which says, "that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers" (NRSV). Peter instructs church leadership using the verb, "to tend the flock' (lit. 'to shepherd,' ποιμαίνω/poimainō) of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight (1 Peter 5:2 NRSV). The words "bishop" and "presbyter" were sometimes used in an interchangeable way, such as in Titus 1:5-6. However, there is ongoing dispute between branches of Christianity over whether there are two ordained classes (presbyters and deacons), or three (bishops, priests, and deacons). The first view is affirmed by some Presbyterians. On the other hand, Christians of the Roman Catholic, Persian, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Moravian, Scandinavian Lutheran, Anglican, Old Catholic and other Presbyterian traditions maintain the latter view, with all but the Presbyterians affirming the doctrine of apostolic succession.

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Pastors in the context of Catholic priest

The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage priest refers only to presbyters and pastors (parish priests). The church's doctrine also sometimes refers to all baptised members (inclusive of the laity) as the "common priesthood", which can be confused with the ministerial priesthood of the ordained clergy.

The church has different rules for priests in the Latin Church–the largest Catholic particular church–and in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. Notably, priests in the Latin Church must take a vow of celibacy, whereas most Eastern Catholic Churches permit married men to be ordained. Deacons are male and usually belong to the diocesan clergy, but, unlike almost all Latin Church (Western Catholic) priests and all bishops from Eastern or Western Catholicism, they may marry as laymen before their ordination as clergy. The priesthood is a vocation for men; a similar but distinct vocation for women is the sisterhood. The Catholic Church teaches that when a man participates in priesthood after the Sacrament of Holy Orders, he acts in persona Christi Capitis, representing the person of Christ.

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Pastors in the context of Hanseaten (class)

The Hanseaten (German: [hanzeˈaːtn̩], Hanseatics) is a collective term for the hierarchy group (so called First Families) consisting of elite individuals and families of prestigious rank who constituted the ruling class of the free imperial city of Hamburg, conjointly with the equal First Families of the free imperial cities of Bremen and Lübeck. The members of these First Families were the persons in possession of hereditary grand burghership (Großbürgerschaft) of these cities, including the mayors (Bürgermeister), the senators (Senatoren), joint diplomats (Diplomaten) and the senior pastors (Hauptpastoren). Hanseaten refers specifically to the ruling families of Hamburg, Lübeck and Bremen, but more broadly, this group is also referred to as patricians along with similar social groups elsewhere in continental Europe.

Since the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the three cities have been officially named the "Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg" (Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg), the "Free Hanseatic City of Bremen" (Freie Hansestadt Bremen) and the "Free and Hanseatic City of Lübeck" (Freie und Hansestadt Lübeck), the latter being simply known since 1937 as the "Hanseatic City of Lübeck" (Hansestadt Lübeck).

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Pastors in the context of Central Yearly Meeting of Friends

Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is a yearly meeting of Friends (Quaker) churches located in Indiana, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Ohio. Central Yearly Meeting of Friends is a part of the Gurneyite wing of the Orthodox branch of Quakerism, and is aligned with the conservative holiness movement. Meeting for worship is programmed and led by pastors.

On First-month 31, 1924 (January 31, 1924), the Union Quarterly Meeting was formed from monthly meetings that were originally a part of the Western Yearly Meeting; certain monthly meetings that were a part of the Indiana Yearly Meeting formed the Eastern Quarterly Meeting. The Union and Eastern Quarterly Meetings remained a part of the Five Years Meeting until 1926, when they separated and together became the Central Yearly Meeting on Ninth-month 17th, 1926 (September 17, 1926). The Central Yearly Meeting strongly supported the Richmond Declaration, a confession of faith upheld by the Orthodox branch of Quakerism.

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