Ephesians 4:11 Pastor = "Ministerial Pastor" or?

[GodHeals]

Hi,

I have heard Pastors and teachers go together in the Greek. Not sure what that means. Does Pastor mean Bishop or Priest, Elder?

Also, I am not sure what the difference between a Bishop and Priest verses Elder. Is a Bishop or Priest an Elder? I think there are other verses that use the word Elder.

This is my MAIN question… I am wondering if a women can have a pastoral spiritual gift, but not like a ministerial Priest. I have heard of women being pastoral assistants, but I am not sure a women can use Eph. 4:11 to say she has a pastoral gift? If not, where would we find a women receiving the Pastoral gift, if there is such a gift for women? What is context of Pastor in the verse below?

“And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers,” (Ephesians 4:11)

Indeed, the ordained ministers of the New Covenant are called apostles (cf. Eph. 4:11) - catholic.com/magazine/articles/the-priesthood-is-both-ministerial-and-universal

Thank you for your help! God Bless You!
Brian

 

[Aelred_Minor]

I see you are in the process of conversion. I’m a former convert myself. The first thing you need to do concerning this subject is divorce the word “minster” from “clergyman” in your mind. The word “minister” has little or no clerical implication in Catholic circles, at least today. “Pastor” is used in a vague way, usually for priests and, perhaps especially, for bishops. As I’m sure you know the word means “shepherd” and so is used in a metaphorical way for those who “shepherd” the Church.

The elders (presbyters) of the New Testament may be priests, bishops, or apostles. Unfortunately, terminology was still pretty loose in the first century. The word later came to mean “priest” (actually it is the origin of our English word “priest”). Technically every bishop is also a priest as were the apostles of course, so the term technically remains widely applicable.

On the other hand the New Testament’s use of the word episkopos, bishop, may really be broader than our current usage. We only use the word to mean the successors of the apostles, the men who have received the fullness of holy orders and govern the local churches. In the first century, or at least in the 50s and 60s when (according the the school of thought I subscribe to anyway) the vest majority of the New Testament was written, the word may originally have been a synonym for presbyter (elder). “Bishop” (meaning supervisor, overseer) was taken from Greek civil affairs and “Elder” from the name for Jewish synagogue leaders. By the early second century though the meanings of the words had settled, so that “presbyter” could mean any priest while “bishop” was used only for the governing “high priest” (so to speak) of the local church.

As for Paul’s list, it could be interpreted several ways but probably on the whole it is describing not ordained positions within the Church but ministries and charisms which a people in different formal positions in the Church might receive. Sort of like we may talk of missionaries, theologians, teachers, and administrators without implying that these are the names of specific offices in the Church (though there could also be a specific office that bears one of these names). To apply this to your question specifically, a woman might legitimately be called to an apostolate or state in life that involves teaching, administration, and other things that could be called “shepherding”, all in a feminine way consistent with her identity as a spiritual mother rather than as a spiritual father. This would not, of course, involve the duties proper exclusively to the ordained clergy, whose vocation is inseparable from the idea of fatherhood.