A profound and very important analysis on the profession of the Christian pastor was presented yesterday, on Monday, September 1, 2025, by Pastor Tzvetan Petkov, General Conference President at the IMS, during the traditional Q&A session and published via YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uDKcgXM44w, the Secretarial Department of the IMS confirmed. Pastor Douglas Francis, Counselor of the General Conference President at the IMS, was the moderator of the event.
Pastor Tzvetan Petkov underlined that the work of the Christian pastor is not only a profession, but first of all a call from God. In addition, Pastor Petkov explained that the Ministerial Manual of the IMS is available in the Bible, especially in the letters of Paul the apostle to Timothy and to Titus. These letters reveal the rules of God on how to ordain elders and which capacities of the person’s character are needed, in order to be the proper one for the position of the pastor (1 Timothy 3:2-7).
Furthermore, Pastor Tzvetan Petkov emphasized the essential biblical truth that the pastors should serve the Lord with God’s love and humbleness, “being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3), applying Christ’s method of leadership only. On the subject who would have the right to ordain pastors, the General Conference President at the IMS mentioned that, according to the Word of the Lord, only pastors could ordain other servants of God (Acts 6:6), while the consecrated elders are not assigned by God to ordain others.
Written by Margarit Zhekov
Pastor Douglas Francis and Pastor Tzvetan Petkov during the Q&A session.
