Monday, October 12, 2026

It is the 12th of October 2026. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Hey everybody- a very happy Monday to you- as is our custom on Monday’s we head to the mailbag. I got a number of questions from Jasmine in Austin. A number of good questions- but I’ll pull out the first question because it’s been something I’ve been reading up on and playing with for a while. Jasmine wrote:

“We recently became confirmed in the Anglican Church and are new to saying 'priest." Can you explain the differences between saying priest, pastor, or Father in the different traditions? I grew up in the Foursquare church in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, and the pastor was lucky to be called "pastor" and not just by his first name.”

Great question- and let me ask you, all the listeners: what do you call people in leadership at your church? It can be a fascinating litmus test for how you understand the New Testament and church history as well as for societal norms.

Let’s start with the idea of how it helps us understand how you read the New Testament. There’s a fundamental question to ask yourself: to what extent does the New Testament give us explicit directions for how the church should be organized?

If yes… well, it’s gonna get complicated. That’s ok- we might just need a bunch of sheets of paper to map out all the different titles given for church leadership in the New Testament- you’ve got Apostle, Evangelist, Prophet, Elders, Bishops, Pastors, Teachers, and Deacons. And you also need to ask if there is a hierarchical structure taught- that is, do individual congregations make their own decisions or is there a hierarchy to oversee congregations worshipping in different locations?

If church history and tradition can be our guide- not as binding, but as helpful (and this is my Protestant low-church self talking- history is informative, not required precedent). The church before Constantine seems to have largely adopted a threefold distinction- Bishop, Elder, and Deacon. That is, a Bishop oversees various churches, each of which has a group of Elders and Deacons- the Elder tends to preside over the word and sacrament, where the deacons are involved in acts of service.

With the rise of Constantine, we see the explosion of church offices and titles- a Metropolitan or Archbishop oversees churches from a prominent city. As some Metropolitans or Archbishops oversaw churches in several significant provinces, they could be called a Primate or Patriarch. The Early church famously had Five Patriarchs- at Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch, Constantinople, and Rome.

“Pastor” and “Father” as well as “Minister” (to a lesser extent) became interchangeable titles of respect- although those too could take on regional meaning (the Bishop of Rome was called “Father’ or “Papa” and that became “Pope”).

The curious one for a lot of Protestants is “Priest”- and this has a tricky history. The New Testament will write of the Old Testament Priesthood- or in Hebrews Christ as the High Priest, or in 1 Peter where the whole church is a "Royal Priesthood”. The Word there is “Hiereus,” but that’s not where we get the word “Priest,” which is often synonymous with “Pastor”.

The English word Priest comes from the Greek Presbuteros (where we get Elder), which in Latin comes to us as Prester or Preost and thus “Priest”.

Is the modern “Priest” more akin to an Old Testament “Priest” or Hiereus or Presbyter? As the church became more “sacerdotal”- think of a special intermediary role with garments and sacramental elements the New Testament Priest (Presbuteros- Elder) became a lot closer to the Old Testament Priest (Hiereus). At the Reformation, it was argued that the “Priest” or “Elder” was not playing an intermediate role between congregation and Christ, and thus the language of Priest was abandoned by many- but not all. The Anglicans altered the meaning of “Priest” and kept the language. So, if you think of “Priest” as in “Elder,” I think you’re good on this side of the Protestant/Catholic divide. As for calling someone “Father”… well, some literalists can go to Matthew 23:9- “call no man your Father on earth”. For organizational purposes, hierarchies and titles can be useful; at the same time, they can be harmful to the understanding of the priesthood of all believers (see 1 Peter 2:9).

I think it’s helpful to ask why we use certain titles- what they might convey, how we might counterbalance leaning too far in one direction- an overseer, elder, deacon is a weighty, important office- but is it Old Testament “priest” like…

I’d probably be most comfortable in the more radical traditions that call everyone Brother and Sister- but that’s just me. I have friends who really like the clarity that distinct offices and titles bring.

Thanks, Jasmine in Austin, for the question!

 

The Last word for today comes from the daily lectionary and Jude’s Doxology

24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 12th of October 2026 brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by the very right reverend, his excellency- the high priest of Random Lake- he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who goes by Dan, bro, dude… hey you… I’m Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.