The literal meaning of the Greek word translated "pastor" (poimen) is shepherd. A shepherd is someone who herds, shears and cares for sheep. Congregations are people referred to by the Bible as sheep, in need of herding, shearing and caring. Those three words can practically be understood to mean, leading, correcting and loving.
Another, no less important job of the pastor is to equip members of the congregation for works of service.
The New Testament is clear that all of the members of the congregation are to be in service to their Lord. Every Christian is a minister. Their job is to carry out the ministries to which they are assigned or for which they volunteer.
Note that Christ did not call apostles, prophets, evangelists and pastor-teachers to do the ministry of the church. He gave them those gifts "...to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up." (Ephesians 4:12-12).
Whatever is done in the church should be for the purpose of building up the body of Christ,,,the church. Everything the church does should be done in an organized, excellent manner. There is no excuse for sloppiness in the church.
Church leaders should be trained to do their jobs. They should NOT be left to "make-it-up as they go along." They should be carefully taught to do their jobs in such a way that the church is built up. They should be taught in such a way that they do not bring dishonor to the church or to the Lord.
Take public prayer, for example. How to pray must be taught. The disciples, who walked with Jesus every day, had to be taught to pray. It did not come naturally to them and Jesus did not instruct them to just pray whatever they thought of or whatever was "on their hearts."
Public prayer is not a time to preach to people. It is not a time to philosophize. It is not a time to tell God what He already knows. Jesus taught that prayer should start with exalting God, move to submission to Him, proceed to petition, acknowledge His forgiveness of sin, and conclude with adoration and praise. Far too many people called on to pray don't do ANY of that. They just randomly ramble.
Bible study teachers should be taught to teach. They must be taught to look out for bad doctrine. They should be taught how to understand and teach the Bible in the context of the word used, the verse it's in, the chapter it's part of, the book it's in, which covenant it relates to and the Bible as a whole. They must be taught the difference between an opinion session and understanding what the Bible is really conveying.
All of that and much, much more is the responsibility of the pastor-shepherd. It is not that he must do it himself, it is that he must oversee its implementation.
Pastors; do your jobs! Teach your people how to do what needs to be done to build up (edify) your congregation as they exalt Christ.
