Perhaps this is why I observe a disproportionately high number of women in the pews of many struggling churches.
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Apart from preaching(sharing God’s word), what authority does a pastor excersie?
Disclaimer that I’m answering from an explicitly Lutheran POV:
I would first argue that it doesn’t require a pastor to preach the word. While pastors DO preach the word, after all that is St. Paul’s instruction to St. Timothy, “Preach the word in and out of season”–this is pastor-to-pastor. The Church has always had lay-preachers. Lay men and women have always been lay-preachers, we see this going all the way back to the days of the Apostles.
So while preaching the word is, certainly, part of the pastoral vocation; it is not limited to the pastoral vocation.
It is also the pastoral responsibility to administer the Sacraments. Which is why, under ordinary circumstances, we entrust administering Holy Baptism to the pastor. Though, of course, this isn’t limited to just pastors. Technically ANYONE can administer baptism, as long as it is a valid Christian baptism. Further, we entrust only to the pastor the administration of God’s holy and precious body and blood in, with, and under the bread and wine of the Holy Supper. Now, could there be a circumstance in which no ordained pastor is available–sure. But without getting into extenuating circumstances and dealing with ordinary good church order: Only pastors administer the Holy Eucharist. Likewise, only pastors are entrusted with the Words of Absolution; as we entrust pastors to, as bearers of the Keys which Christ gave to His Church, to do as Christ commanded, “Whoever’s sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whoever’s sins you retain are retained”; this is a necessary dimension of the pastoral vocation. The Church entrusts the Keys to pastors, as they are ministers of Christ’s Word and Sacraments.
So beyond preaching, there are the Sacraments. Further, pastors are there to teach, though not only pastors can teach; pastors are their to counsel, though not only pastors can counsel. So we can speak of the pastoral responsibilities during the Mass or Divine Service, which is leading through the process of the Holy Liturgy, through the prayers, hymns, to the day’s readings, giving the homily, leading us though the Lord’s prayer, as we prepare to receive Christ through the Supper into our hearts and souls, to ready us for the days ahead as we are finally dismissed into the world to love the Lord, love our neighbor, and go with God in all things. In some things, lay-ministers certainly aid and contribute. A cantor or choir leader or simply someone who can sing helps greatly when it comes to the singing of hymns; lay readers can give the Scripture readings of the day, lay ministers can assist at the Table in various ways. So the pastor isn’t doing all the work, but he is responsible for carrying out his office as the one entrusted with the Keys to preach, administer the Sacraments, and proclaim the Good News–as a shepherd declaring the Good Shepherd’s word to the flock.
Outside of the Mass, a pastor, of course, continues to carry his pastoral duties. To hear what the people of God bring to him–confession of their sins, or just the things bothering them, their struggles, etc. And the pastor is there to declare the Word, to offer counsel and advice, to offer prayer, to be a shoulder to rely upon. A pastor is a shepherd, a counselor, a prayer companion, a friend, and a spiritual father.
This is why the call and appointment of pastors is treated so seriously in Scripture. To whom much is given, much is required.
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