Pastored

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To have led and nurtured a faith community through guidance and support To have fulfilled the responsibilities of a religious leader and caretaker To have engaged in providing spiritual encouragement within a church setting
2. Served as the primary spiritual leader and caretaker of a congregation
3. Managed the religious and pastoral duties involved in guiding a faith community

Etymology: Pastored is the simple past of "pastor", which entered English in Middle English as "pastour", borrowed from Old French "pastor" and ultimately from Latin "pāstor", meaning herdsman or shepherd. The core image has always been of the flock: a figure who guides and keeps watch over a group of people as a shepherd does sheep. The Latin noun comes from "pascere", "to feed" or "to pasture", so the same root sits behind "pasture" and "pastoral". Over the centuries the metaphor of the shepherd tending his flock was applied to the clergy, who were seen as caring for the souls of their parishioners, and the sense of a church minister took firm hold in English. The verb pastored, meaning to lead a congregation, follows that religious sense: to serve as the pastor of a church, the shepherd of a spiritual flock.

Synonyms: shepherded, guided, led, cared for, nurtured