The Hebrew and Greek words translated 'pastor' in the scriptures are 'ra'ah' and 'poimen' respectively meaning 'shepherd'. The calling of a pastor is that of a 'shepherd' : to tend, feed and guard the sheep or flock of God.
There are three categories of Shepherd:
The sheep keepers (John 10:1-4)
The sheep eaters (Jeremiah 12:10)
The sheep scatterers (Jeremiah 23:1-2)
A pastor is an overseer of a number of God's people. Pastors are church leaders called by God to take long-term responsibility for the spiritual needs and welfare of a body of believers. They give proper attention to people and are accessible to the sheep. They do a lot of counselling, praying and restoration of lost souls (Jeremiah 3:15).
