A pastor is a leader of a local church congregation, given authority by God to act as a shepherd to help his congregation grow into spiritual maturity as believers in Jesus Christ. This title is usually assumed by congregation leaders of Protestant groups; the Catholic equivalent to this title would be a priest.
In the Left Behind series, Vernon Billings was the senior pastor of New Hope Village Church until the time of the Rapture, after which the role was passed on to associate pastor Bruce Barnes, who became the spiritual mentor for both the Tribulation Force and the Young Tribulation Force until his death around the time of World War III. Tsion Ben-Judah, a Messianic Jew who came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior during the Tribulation after his extensive research on who the Messiah really is, became the cyber-pastor of an online ministry reaching out to newborn Christians during the Tribulation. Demetrius Demeter was a pastor of an underground church in Greece who, along with his wife and his congregation, was captured by the Global Community forces and sentenced to death for refusing to take the Mark of the Beast during the midpoint of the Tribulation. Gustaf Zuckermandel, Jr., best known as "Little Zeke", became an assistant pastor for an underground church in Wisconsin for a time when his services as a master of disguise and forger of identities was not needed. He later became the head of the For The Undecided ministry in Albania while becoming a farmer during the Millennial Kingdom. Enoch Dumas became the de facto pastor of The Place when the original people who ran the program were taken in the Rapture. And during the Millennial Kingdom, Abdullah Ababneh became the chaplain for the Theological Training Institute, pretty much against the wishes of its founders, Mudawar and Sarsour.