Elder = Lay Pastor?

I'm aware that some might argue equating elders in the New Testament with pastors, and I'm not entirely sure I would disagree with that (though I can also see equating the New Testament "bishop" or "overseeing elder" with the pastor and equating other elders with leadership in the church without them being pastors). Yesterday after the service, the voting members of the congregation at New Life Assembly of God in Buffalo, NY voted in two men to serve as elders. Our pastor referred to them as lay pastors and, in fact, in the previous few weeks, he had made it a point of saying that those voted in would be considered pastors and made it a point of saying "We" (speaking for the congregation) consider elders to be pastors. He claimed there was scriptural support for this but he didn't provide any.

Anyway, the two men voted into these positions yesterday are not ordained ministers and do not have formal theological training (for those who might argue that neither did the Apostles, one could consider the time the spent learning directly from Jesus to be formal theological training). One of them doesn't think it's a priority for his daughters to do the scripture memorization or the homework that is assigned in Sunday School. He has a Pentecostal background and went through David Wilkerson's discipleship ministry at Times Square Church shortly after he came to Christ. The other makes sure his daughter is immersed in the scriptures and, consequently, the daughter far surpasses her Sunday School classmates. He teaches from the pulpit (as opposed to preaching) and uses the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, which is a liberal Bible translation produced by the National Council of Churches.

I'm not sure what to think of this but part of me is uncomfortable with this development.