2006-08-05 11:19:41 · 21 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
A pastor is normally associated with the Protestant churches.
There are some Protestant denominations that have clergy they address as Bishop and Priest, such as the Episcopal church, but thats just copying the Catholics. They're "Catholic Lite" so they can play Catholic and at the same time do whatever they want, such as have women "Priests", openly homosexual "Bishops", and so forth.
A Bishop is a validly ordained Priest who has been put in charge of a Diocese. A Diocese is another name for a large geographical area. The Priest within a Diocese ususally is over a single Parish (church) within that Diocese and he operates under the authority of that Diocese's Bishop. Even a visiting Priest must get permission from the Bishop before he can conduct a mass there.
I stand corrected....I did leave out that there are other positions for the Priest other than being a Parish Priest. There are Religious Orders they may belong to also, where they don't conduct mass and preach.
2006-08-05 11:22:13 · answer #1 · answered by Augustine 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
A pastor is the lead minister in charge of a group of Christians, usually a parish but at times a diocese or eparchy.
A bishop is a person ordained to succeed the apostle's in their ministry. The first apostolic successor was Mathias. You can read it in Acts of the Apostle's 1:46. Each Catholic, Orthodox and Coptic bishop can trace their ordination directly back to the twelve. Like the twelve and unlike Protestant leaders, they are called to service from those appointed to that service for life. Every early church considered this the sole mechanism to assure validity to all their ministries. Every Church maintains its list of apostolic successors. Their job is to proclaim the Gospel in its fullest. Certain bishops also serve in other roles. The most classic example is the bishop of Rome. The very earliest Christians clearly considered the Pope, the successor to Peter's ministry.
A priest (english) or presbyteros (Greek) is a man (literally an old man in Greek) who assists the bishop. Originally the word was presbyter which was corrupted into prester and then into priest. Although it tends to get translated as "elder" that really looses a lot in English. The first real reference in scripture where presbyteros and episkipoi were different people is when Timothy and Titus are instructed to ordain presbyteroi to assist them and transmit the traditions.
2006-08-05 22:03:00 · answer #2 · answered by OPM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A pastor is a title given to the person in charge of the church in a protestant religion A priest is a man who is annointed as someone who studied and graduated from a biblical college. A bishop is a higher ranking priest.
2006-08-05 18:30:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Catholics and some other Christian denominations have all three offices. Generally, a priest is one ordained for ministry, a pastor is a priest in charge of a church, and a bishop is in charge of a group of churches.
The Bible mentions the office of bishop (a.k.a. "overseer") as a position of spiritual and/or administrative leadership, but declares that all Christians are priests, able to serve God and intercede.
God bless.
2006-08-05 18:27:51 · answer #4 · answered by Thinker 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What country, what religion. A French cleric, I understand is equal to a pastor, they are in charge of a congregation. A preist may or may not have a congregation, they may belong to a cloistered order. Bishops start out as priests. They may or may not have a congregation before being appointed a bishop, and they "create/ordain priest". (Roman Catholic)
2006-08-05 18:26:59 · answer #5 · answered by NoPoaching 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At least in the Catholic church, a priest is anyone who is ordained, a pastor is a priest who is in charge of a parish, and a bishop is a priest who is in charge of a diocese. A parish is generally one church, although with the current priest shortage, one priest can be in charge of more than one; a diocese is a geographic area which would usually contain a large number of churches.
2006-08-05 18:28:28 · answer #6 · answered by Judy 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
a pastor is the leader of an evangelical congregation. a priest is any kind of religious leader but the word is mostly associated with catholicism. a bishop is a church leader above the priests, pastors etc. who interprets biblical knowledge for their use.
2006-08-05 18:29:40 · answer #7 · answered by nerdyhermione 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A Pastor is the spiritual leader of a local congregation. A priest is usually in the Catholic church and the spiritual leader of a local catholic congregation. A bishop is the spiritual leader over a group of churches, usually Episcopal and Catholic.
My hubby (A Pastor) helped me with this one!
2006-08-05 18:28:47 · answer #8 · answered by trainer53 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pastor is what the Christian Protestants call their church leader. Priest and Bishops are used in the Catholic Church. But they all are men of God and lead their congregations is worship services.
2006-08-05 18:25:23 · answer #9 · answered by Kay 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
A pastor eyes de milk, a priest is least and a bishop moves diagonally.
2006-08-05 18:24:12 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋