The Role of pastors as suggested by Ellen G. White and practices of pastors in East Indonesia : a comparative study

Abstract

Most of the local church pastors are confused about what role they should perform in the church. Some pastors believe that pastors should be mainly evangelists, or shepherds, or teachers, or preachers, or leaders, or administrators or even readers of church services. This study relates to the need for pastors in the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) church in East Indonesia, particularly in the North Minahasa Mission (NMM) and the south Minahasa conference (SMC), to reconsider what their role is in the church. The purpose of the study is to investigate the role of the pastor as suggested by El1en G. White and compare it with the practices of pastors in the NMM and SMC. Ellen G. White emphasized that the roles of the pastor as evangelist, as shepherd, as preacher, as teacher, as leader, as church services leader, and as administrator are all important. Pastors need to perform all of these roles in order to establish ministry which is balanced between nurture and witness. The pastors in NMM and SMC spend most of their time in shepherding through visitation and in evangelism by giving Bible studies. Pastors in East Indonesia give less attention to training the members. The future trends of ministry in East Indonesia are projected based on the present practices of the pastors. The recommendations in this study are given to the pastors, leaders, and educational institutions to help facilitate necessary improvements. Pastors in East Indonesia, and particurarly in the NMM and SMC, need to perform their pastoral roles in such a way, that there will be balance between nurture and witnessing. The above pastoral roles suggested by EGW are not naturally exclusive but complementary.