What is This Thing Called "church"?

I would really like some input here. It has been some years now that this has rolled around in my head, and I'm still unclear on the concept. Someone has to be able to clear it up for me.

The fundamental structure of most churches (building on the corner, not "Body of Christ" Church) is that it is led by a pastor, a single leader. There are variations on this theme. Some have "senior pastors" with subordinate pastors also on the list, but this still boils down to a single leader. I have known of one or two that had "co-pastors", two or more leaders, but it's still the same concept in that you have a pastor who leads the church. Some churches have elders that have some influence over pastors. Others have the pastor as part of the board -- generally leading it. Some don't have elders at all (ignoring, as I understand Scripture, the biblical model). Some have pastors who answer to a higher structure, organizations like the Southern Baptists or the Presbyterians or so many others. Still, to the congregation there is still a pastor at the head of the local church. Some pastors serve at the whim of the congregation. He is there as long as they tolerate him, and if he falls out of favor, he falls out of a job. Still, there is a singular person generally referred to as "pastor" who is at the top.

My question in all of this is ... why? As I look through Scripture, I don't find this at all. Turning the pages of my Bible, I find that the original "church", Israel, had multiple spiritual leaders. An entire tribe of Israel served in that capacity. Moving from the "pre-Christ" to the "after Christ" Church, we find plenty of stuff about it in the New Testament. One thing that appears to be lacking is the concept of "pastor" as we use it today. Or maybe you haven't noticed.

Pull out a concordance or a Bible search engine and look up "pastor" sometime. Hey, even if you don't find much there, try out a topical index. Here's what you'll likely find. The word "pastor" occurs -- get this -- exactly never in the New Testament. Okay, okay, that seems unfair. In truth, the word "pastors" occurs ... once. One time. Now, if the primary focus in American churches is the pastor, why is the concept so absent from the New Testament? Keep looking. Maybe it's under "clergy", that select group who goes to seminary, learns how to lead, studies Greek and Hebrew, then gets certified by a special group to pastor your churches. No? What's up with that? Why is it that the single most obvious member of every church on the face of the American landscape is so absolutely scarce in the pages of Scripture? Could it be that we've missed something ... or, just as bad, added something?

The word, "pastor," comes from the concept of "pasture" and refers primarily to shepherd. Oh, now wait! Here we go. Let's find "shepherd". Ah, there it is:

I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory (1 Peter 5:1-4).

Hmmm. That doesn't quite work, does it? You see, it refers to "elders", not "pastors" or the like. It is a group of people, not a single person. Generally speaking, the term "elder" refers to a group of men that lead the church, never to a single individual. Sometimes it means "people who are older", and that may even be the case here (since it follows this with a reference to "young men" who should be subject to the "elders"). Still, it would be a bizarre church indeed that had one older man. No, it appears that Peter is here giving instructions that the more spiritually mature Christians exercise leadership over the local body. Indeed, the word he uses is "oversight" which is the same root word used in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 where Paul details the qualifications for a "bishop", an "overseer". Oh, my, it looks like we're back to that concept. In fact, when Paul addresses his epistle to the church at Philippi, he references "all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi, including the overseers and deacons" (Phil. 1:1). (Odd ... he doesn't reference a pastor.) It would appear from this and many other references that the local church is constructed of believers and directed by a group of men who are "overseers" or "elders" (who are "apt to teach" -- 1 Tim. 3:2) and deacons. Apparently the elders or overseers are the spiritual leaders while the deacons carry out the practical functions of ministry.

So, here I am left wondering why it is that this is not what we see in churches today. Why is there a single pastor who preaches every week rather than a small group of mature Christian men? Why is the focus on one man rather than a group of leaders? Why do we have such an emphasis on a thing we can refer to as "clergy" where no such thing seems to exist in the New Testament? In other words, why is our standard church not found anywhere in the pages of the New Testament or the New Testament version of church not found anywhere on the streets of American Christianity? What am I missing?