pastoraten.
/ˈpɑːst(ə)rət/, /ˈpast(ə)rət/, U.S. /ˈpæst(ə)rət/ 1. The position or office of pastor; the tenure of such an office; = pastorship n.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > pastor > [noun] > office of
pastorship1563
pastorage1656
pastorate1728
pastorhood1928
1728 J. Danforth Two Vast Enjoyments Commemorated 1 in Serm. Occasioned by Late Great Earthquake The Reverend Mr Peter Thacher Pastor of the Church of Christ in Milton, who..ascended to a better World..in the 47th of his Pastorate.
1785 E. Stiles U.S. Elevated to Glory & Honour (ed. 2) 105 Mr. Allin..died 1671; and was succeeded in the pastorate by Mr. Adams.
1876 C. M. Yonge Cameos cxxxii, in Monthly Packet Dec. 504 They insisted on his assuming the pastorate.
1901 Scotsman 9 Mar. 8/8 Recollections from a Border pastorate of twenty years.
1928 Amer. Mercury Oct. 213/1 George began to long for that close touch with community affairs which the pastorate alone affords a preacher.
2003 Ebony (Nexis) Feb. 154 A young minister who had recently assumed the pastorate of the small but prestigious Dexter Avenue Baptist Church.
2.
a. A body of pastors; pastors collectively.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > church government > member of the clergy > pastor > [noun] > collectively
pastorality?1577
pastorhood1839
pastorate1846
1846 J. E. Worcester Universal Dict. Eng. Lang. [citing Ec. Rev.] Pastorate, the office or body of pastors.
1878 P. Bayne Chief Actors Puritan Revol. i. 23 The pastorate of Scotland, dependent..for its existence on its representing the..national feeling.
1956 R. E. Morrow Northern Methodism & Reconstruction iv. 106 Condemnations of the white pastorate in the South.
2000 B. Barton Schweiger Gospel Working Up p. vii The nineteenth-century pastorate embraced a variety of men and motives.
b. In some university cities, esp. Oxford and Cambridge: an evangelical organization of lay and ordained Christians devoted to the spiritual care and guidance of students.
ΚΠ
1893 Times 17 Apr. 6/5 A meeting of Oxford graduates was held recently in London in reference to a proposal to establish in Oxford an Evangelical pastorate for University men.
1926 Oxf. Pastorate: 31st Rep. 3 Seldom has the work of the pastorate seemed to be so successful.
1990 C. A. Cull Election Addr. (Diocese of Oxf. Gen. Synod Elections) 1 In Cambridge, I worshipped at Holy Trinity Church where I became an assistant with the Cambridge Pastorate.
3. A group of congregations; a shared ministry.
ΚΠ
1973 Quest Apr. 21/1 A pastorate is a group of congregations.
1977 Church Times 2 Dec. 11/5 In the suburban [Methodist] circuits, where the larger churches have tended to become pastorates, there is still a reservoir of highly qualified, often graduate, lay preachers.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2005; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1728