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Does a Pastor have to shepherd a specific church group?

For example, could an itinerant preacher or evangelist be correctly addressed as 'pastor' even if they are not affiliated with any one specific church group?

Clarify Share Report Asked September 24 2017 Mini Anonymous

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Mini Tim Maas Supporter Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army
Although the title "pastor" comes from the Latin word for "shepherd" (which might be taken to imply the existence of a "flock" of believers for whom the pastor is responsible), if someone is clearly doing God's work in preaching and evangelizing, I personally would view the title by which he is called (or by which he chooses to designate himself) as a secondary matter, whether he has a "regular" congregation or not. The only exceptions would be if the person would be appropriating a title that implied a certain degree of formal learning or education (such as "Doctor"), or official ordination by a specific religious body, for which he did not possess the requisite qualifications.

September 26 2017 0 responses Vote Up Share Report


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