Elder or Pastor

By Lusani Masindi

It may have been around 2011 or 2012 that I had an opportunity to preach at the youth conference at Christ Flock Bible Church in Vondwe, Limpopo. I had the privilege of preaching alongside Pastor Ndouvhada, whom I do not forget his name and introduction to date. A young man’s introduction of the pastor was filled with excessive praise, using the title “bishop” to elevate the pastor’s stature and influence further. By then, I had already grown to dislike excessive praising of pastors, including enforcing or encouraging referencing pastors with multiple titles. What I found exceptional, and something that stays with me, was that Pastor Ndouvhada’s first action when he got up the podium was to rebuke the young man for excessive praise, and in particular, the use of the “bishop” title. 

Ndouvhada believed the “bishop” title to be an equivalent of “elder”, and my later training in theology proved this to be true. He said that the “bishop” title just evolved with time to now imply someone with higher authority, especially over multiple churches. However, in the scriptures, the “bishop” title could be interchanged with “overseer” or “elder”. In essence, Ndouvhada was saying that the young man did not do justice to his title, because he had technically reduced him from “pastor” to “overseer”, even though he used the word “bishop”. 

The gifts of Jesus to the church (Ephesians 4:11-13) are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. These, popularly known as the fivefold ministry are to be seen as one group – a group named “Gifts of Christ”. Though they are one group, they have over time been treated differently as if they were never mentioned together as a group. One would suppose that each of these gifts was spread out the scriptures and ascribed their special roles. But nowhere in scripture do we see the “pastor” role being given a special role. If it is odd to ask “Who is the teacher of your church”, or “Who is the evangelist”, it should be equally odd to ask “Who is the pastor of your church”. 

I have come to understand that elders are the ones who govern the church. This is a practice in many churches. I also learned it from David Pawson’s teachings and my theology studies. Philippians 1:1 shows three groups of people found in a local church: the saints, the deacons, and the overseers (bishops/elders). The saints constitute all the church members, those who are born again. Elders, also called overseers or bishops, are the ones who govern a local church. They do not have a pastor above them. Among the elders, some are teachers, others are evangelists, some prophets and pastors, yes, even apostles. 

Not all pastors are elders. Not all evangelists are elders. Among the deacons, some may be evangelists. Consider the first time deacons were ordained (Acts 6), though they were ordained to serve, they were full of the Holy Spirit, and we see them becoming witnesses too. They did more than just wait on tables. The whole local church should consist of members who are doing something. The metaphor of the church being a body (1 Corinthians 12) shows that each member can have a gift and exercise their gift. I believe that one can have a gift from the Holy Spirit and yet not be an elder. Likewise, one could have one of the five gifts of Christ, but not an elder or deacon. 

The pastor title is often used in place of elder. For this reason, we can say that elder, bishop, and pastor are all interchangeable words. But “pastor” should not be part of the list, because it is only one of the 5 gifts of Christ. This article aimed to help differentiate between “elder” and “pastor”, however, more can be said regarding church governance. One longer discussion to have is the plurality of elders. A local church should be governed by more than one elder. The New Testament always speaks of elders in the plural. By having several elders, and in turn, these elders have the different gifts of Christ, then the church will be well equipped.