You are most kind 777.
You make good points.
Yes, it is true that the shepherd does lead.
But there is only one great shepherd.
Even Jesus didn't let His disciples call Him "Father".
He was Lord of all, but he made a point to tell them there is only one Father(Spirit) in heaven.
A man-'pastor',(for lack of a better term), did baptize me when I was young. But only God Himself baptized me with the Holy Spirit.
Just real quickly before I go to bed. This is my point exactly. Your pastors have the same role as our priests. When we call our priests "father" we don't do it to elevate them to the same Fatherhood we receive from God. We call them that for the same reason St. Peter and St. Paul referred to themselves as fathers, as a sign of compassionate and spiritual leadership. Not spiritual leadership as in Holy Spirit-ual leadership. No one can ever nor will ever take the place of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus told us to not call any man father on earth, He couldn't have meant it literally because biological fathers have held that name since the beginning of time. And He couldn't have meant it as spiritual leadership fathers, because that's exactly what Peter and Paul were, and what our pastors and priests are. He meant it so that we lifted no man up to be called father in His place. I know what you're thinking..... POPE!!! Brother, please listen to me as a Catholic. We never ever get told to worship the Pope. We never ever pray to the Pope. And we never ever prostrate ourselves in the presence of the Pope like we would God. The Pope is merely a leader among equals. We have been misunderstood by so many misled Protestants who have been taught falsely about Catholicism by our haters. If people would only research the position of Catholics on a lot of points they make against us, then they would see so much more beauty than the darkness they believe exists in the Catholic Faith. Not to mention Truth.
Just one more thing. If God baptized you with the Holy Spirit, why bother being baptized with water.
I'll be back tomorrow. Peace, and God bless