Minister (Christianity)

A Methodist minister wearing a cassock, vested with a surplice and stole, with preaching bands attached to his clerical collar

In Christianity, a minister is a person authorized by a church, or other religious organization, to perform functions such as teaching of beliefs; leading services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals; or otherwise providing spiritual guidance to the community.

The term is taken from Latin minister ("servant", "attendant").^[1]

Minister (Christianity) Media

Francis of Assisi with the ecclesiastical tonsure. Francis was an ordained deacon.
Gilbert White, an Anglican priest and pioneering naturalist and ornithologist
The Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, the first bishop to be martyred at the time of the Russian Revolution
An Anglican minister delivering a homily, dressed in choir habit with Canterbury cap
Scene of baptism. Stained glass from the Sainte-Chapelle of Paris, last quarter of the 12th century.
A bishop administering Confirmation. Rogier van der Weyden, The Seven Sacraments (detail), c. 1445.
Wedding of Maria Feodorovna and Alexander III of Russia. Painting by Mihály Zichy, 1867.
Extreme Unction. Rogier van der Weyden, The Seven Sacraments (detail), c. 1445.
Consecration of William Evan Sanders as Episcopal Bishop Coadjutor of Tennessee, 1962

References

↑ "Etymologically, a minister is a person of 'lower' status, a 'servant'. The word goes back via Old French ministre to Latin minister 'servant, attendant', which was derived from 'minus', 'less'." http://www.word-origins.com/definition/minister.html^{[dead link]}

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[1] "Etymologically, a minister is a person of 'lower' status, a 'servant'. The word goes back via Old French ministre to Latin minister 'servant, attendant', which was derived from 'minus', 'less'." http://www.word-origins.com/definition/minister.html^{[dead link]}

[1]