Pastor vs. Deacon — What's the Difference?

A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" {singular}, or "Ps" {plural}), is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and Anglicanism, pastors are always ordained.

A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Scandinavian Lutheran Churches and the Anglican Church, including the Free Church of England, view the diaconate as part of the clerical state.

A Christian minister or priest having spiritual charge over a congregation or other group.

A cleric ranking just below a priest in the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and Roman Catholic churches.

A layperson having spiritual charge over a person or group.

A lay assistant to a Protestant minister.

(Archaic) A shepherd.

Used as a title prefixed to the surname of such a person

To serve or act as pastor of.

(Church history) A designated minister of charity in the early Church (see Acts 6:1-6).

A shepherd; someone who tends to a flock of animals.

(Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism) A clergyman ranked directly below a priest, with duties of helping the priests and carrying out parish work.

Someone with spiritual authority over a group of people

(Protestantism) Free Churches: A lay leader of a congregation who assists the pastor.

(Protestantism) A minister or priest in a church.

(Protestantism) Anglicanism: An ordained clergyman usually serving a year prior to being ordained presbyter, though in some cases they remain a permanent deacon.

The main priest serving a parish.

(Protestantism) Methodism: A separate office from that of minister, neither leading to the other; instead there is a permanent deaconate.

A bird, the rosy starling.

(freemasonry) A junior lodge officer.

To serve a congregation as pastor

(Mormonism) The lowest office in the Aaronic priesthood, generally held by 12 or 13 year old boys or recent converts.

A shepherd; one who has the care of flocks and herds.

A male calf of a dairy breed, so called because they are usually deaconed (see below).

A guardian; a keeper; specifically (Eccl.), a minister having the charge of a church and parish.

(Scotland) The chairman of an incorporated company.

A species of starling (Pastor roseus), native of the plains of Western Asia and Eastern Europe. Its head is crested and glossy greenish black, and its back is rosy. It feeds largely upon locusts.

For a choir leader to lead a hymn by speaking one or two lines at a time, which are then sung by the choir.

A person authorized to conduct religious worship

To kill a calf shortly after birth.

Only the rose-colored starlings; in some classifications considered a separate genus

To place fresh fruit at the top of a barrel or other container, with spoiled or imperfect fruit hidden beneath.

To make sly alterations to the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc.

An officer in Christian churches appointed to perform certain subordinate duties varying in different communions. In the Roman Catholic and Episcopal churches, a person admitted to the lowest order in the ministry, subordinate to the bishops and priests. In Presbyterian churches, he is subordinate to the minister and elders, and has charge of certain duties connected with the communion service and the care of the poor. In Congregational churches, he is subordinate to the pastor, and has duties as in the Presbyterian church.

The chairman of an incorporated company.

To read aloud each line of (a psalm or hymn) before singing it, - usually with off.

With humorous reference to hypocritical posing: To pack (fruit or vegetables) with the finest specimens on top; to alter slyly the boundaries of (land); to adulterate or doctor (an article to be sold), etc.

A Protestant layman who assists the minister

A cleric ranking just below a priest in Christian churches; one of the Holy Orders