The New Testament considers only two offices for the church: elders/pastors and deacons (cf. 1 Tim 3:1-17). Different terms, however, may be used to refer to the same office.
For example, in Acts 20:28 Paul gathered the Ephesians elders and called them overseers and commanded them to shepherd (or to pastor) God’s flock.
From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. When they arrived, he said to them . . . ‘Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood.'” (Acts 20:17-18, 28)
Similarly, Peter exhorted elders in Asia to both shepherd and oversee God’s flock.
To the elders among you, . . . Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God watns you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.” (1 Peter 1:1-4; cf. Tit 1:5-7)
They are called elders because they are qualified men exemplifying spiritual maturity. They are called pastors because their main task is to shepherd God’s flock, feeding them with the Word and protecting them from sin and false teaching. Finally, they are called overseers/bishops because they look after the lives of church members as those will give an account before God (cf. Heb 13:17).
Since the task is never easy, God graciously designed for churches to have a plurality of pastors to help carry the burden of pastoral ministry (cf. Acts 14:23; Phil 1:1; Tit 1:5). Furthermore, the elders/pastors are also given deacons to assist them. The proto-deacons in Acts 6 were given specific physical tasks (“serving tables for widows”) in order to maintain church unity and assist the church leaders by allowing them to focus on spiritual tasks like prayer and the ministry of the Word (cf. Acts 6:4). The role of the deacons was instrumental for the Word of God to increase (Acts 6:7)!
At the local church where I serve, we are excited to have our first batch of elders who will serve by leading, and deacons who will lead by serving. Our congregation voted on three elders and three deacons. Our desire is to have elders who shepherd like Jesus (John 10:14-15) and deacons who serve like Jesus (Mark 10:45).
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