Why doesn’t your group have a pastor like other churches?
Those who preach or teach the Word in our meetings are ordinary brethren like you and me. Some, at the call of the Lord, devote full time to the Lord’s work. Others maintain secular jobs while serving in this capacity. We all are servants of the Lord since we all have a gift to use for Him (1 Cor.9:7-14; Gal.6:6; Eph.4:11-16; Acts 18:1-3; 20:33-35; Rev.1:1). Being a servant is not a class distinction, but a great privilege we all can enjoy, even if not called to serve full time.
No where in Scripture is the idea of a clergy / layity system supported. All believers in Christ are brethren and are equally responsible before the Lord for the study of His Word in their own lives. In fact, the Lord Jesus said to not call anyone “master” or “teacher” or “father” (Matt. 23:1-12). Preachers and ministers are generally voted on by a congregation to serve a local church and are paid a salary. They are given the place of spiritual leadership and superiority as long as the preacher remains “our pastor.” In other groups the preacher is appointed over a flock by a governing board. This practice, we believe, is not supported in the Scriptures.
We must also consider that we do not all look at Scripture the same way. We believe by having an “open” platform where various men are able to minister the Word, rather than a “one man ministry” allows the Spirit of God to use the diversity of gift and personality that He has given to the Church. However, we do not believe in an “every man” ministry (that is to say, we believe that every believer has a ministry but not every believer is called to be a preacher), but only ministry by those who are gifted.