In Christianity, a minister is a person authorised 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] In some church traditions the term is usually used for people who have been ordained, but in other traditions it can also be used for non-ordained.
In the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, Anglicanism and Lutheranism, the concept of a priesthood is emphasized. In other traditions such as Baptist, Methodist, and Calvinist groups like Congregationalists and Presbyterians, the term "minister" usually refers to a member of the ordained clergy who leads a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such a person may serve as an elder (presbyter), pastor, preacher, bishop, or chaplain.
Ministers are also described as being a woman or man of the cloth. With respect to ecclesiastical address, many ministers are styled as "The Reverend"; however, some use "Pastor" or "Father" as a title.
Priests are called to be servants and shepherds among the people to whom they are sent. With their Bishop and fellow ministers, they are to proclaim the word of the Lord and to watch for the signs of God's new creation. They are to be messengers, watchmen and stewards of the Lord; they are to teach and to admonish, to feed and provide for his family, to search for his children in the wilderness of this world's temptations, and to guide them through its confusions, that they may be saved through Christ forever. Formed by the word, they are to call their hearers to repentance and to declare in Christ's name the absolution and forgiveness of their sins.
With all God's people, they are to tell the story of God's love. They are to baptize new disciples in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and to walk with them in the way of Christ, nurturing them in the faith. They are to unfold the Scriptures, to preach the word in season and out of season, and to declare the mighty acts of God. They are to preside at the Lord's table and lead his people in worship, offering with them a spiritual sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. They are to bless the people in God's name. They are to resist evil, support the weak, defend the poor, and intercede for all in need. They are to minister to the sick and prepare the dying for their death. Guided by the Spirit, they are to discern and foster the gifts of all God's people, that the whole Church may be built up in unity and faith.[2]
Depending on the denomination, the requirements for ministry vary. All denominations require the minister to have a vocation, a sense of calling. In regards to training, denominations vary in their requirements, from those that emphasize natural gifts to those that also require advanced tertiary education qualifications; for example, from a seminary, theological college or university.[citation needed]
Parson is a similar term often applied to ordained priests or ministers. The word is a variant on the English word person from the Latin persona ("mask") used as a legal term for one having jurisdiction.
Chaplain as in English or almoner (preferred in many other languages) or their equivalents refer to a minister who has another type of pastoral "target group" than a territorial parish congregation (or in addition to one), such as a military units, schools and hospitals.
There are contrasting views on the level of compensation given to ministers relative to the religious community. There is often an expectation that they and their families will shun ostentation. However, there are situations where they are well rewarded for successfully attracting people to their religious community or enhancing the status or power of the community.
The ordination of women has increasingly become accepted within many global religious faith groups, with some women now holding the most senior positions in these organizational hierarchies. There is disagreement between various global church denominations, and within membership of denominations, regarding whether women can be ministers. In 2021 excavations at the site of a Byzantine-era Christian basilica revealed floor mosaics which provide evidence of women serving as ministers, including deacons, in the church.[14]
In the majority of churches, ordained ministers are styled "The Reverend". However, as stated above, some are styled "Pastor" and others do not use any religious style or form of address, and are addressed as any other person, e.g. as Mr, Ms, Miss, Mrs or by name.[citation needed]
These are formal styles. In normal speech (either addressing the clergy or referring to them) other forms of address are often used. For all clergy, this may include the titles "Father" (male) or "Mother" (female), particularly in the Anglo-Catholic tradition, or simply the appropriate secular title (Mister, Doctor, etc.) for that person, particularly in the Evangelical tradition; it is also increasingly common to dispense with formal addresses and titles in favour of verbal address simply by given name. Bishops may be addressed as "My Lord", and less formally as "Bishop". Similarly, archbishops may be addressed as "Your Grace", and less formally as "Archbishop". The titles "My Lord" and "Your Grace" refer to the places held by these prelates in the Church of England within the order of precedence of the state; however, the same titles are also extended to bishops and archbishops of other Anglican churches, outside England.As Anglicanism represents a broad range of theological opinion, its presbyterate includes priests who consider themselves no different in any respect from those of the Catholic Church, some parishes and dioceses in "Low Church" or Evangelical circles prefer to use the title presbyter or "minister" in order to distance themselves from the more sacrificial theological implications which they associate with the word "priest". While priest is the official term for a member of the presbyterate in every Anglican province worldwide, the ordination rite of certain provinces (including the Church of England) recognizes the breadth of opinion by adopting the title The Ordination of Priests (also called Presbyters).[17]
The term minister comes from Middle English, deriving from the Old French word ministre, originally minister in Latin, meaning "servant, attendant", which itself was derived from the word 'minus' meaning "less".[6]
Normally the leader of the majority party becomes the prime minister, or an office of equivalent function, and selects the other ministers. In the Westminster system, these ministers continue to represent their constituency in parliament while being part of the government. Individuals who are not in parliament may be appointed as a minister, usually in order to bring special skills to the government.
In the United Kingdom, a government minister does not have to be a member of either House of Parliament. In practice, however, convention is that ministers must be members of either the House of Commons or House of Lords in order to be accountable to Parliament. From time to time, Prime Ministers appoint non-parliamentarians as ministers. In recent years such ministers have been appointed to the House of Lords.[7]
Some ministers may hold multiple portfolios and lead several ministries simultaneously, while multiple ministers with separate portfolios may oversee a single ministry, or may also share both ministerial and deputy-ministerial portfolios in different ministries. A cabinet minister can sometimes be in charge of no ministry at all, and is then known as a "minister without portfolio".
Suga often has been mentioned as one of many possible successors to Abe, especially in recent months as the prime minister scaled back public appearances and faced a series of political scandals involving friends and family.
There was a large anti-government protest planned for December 19 at the Red Fort in Delhi, which is a historic monument from where the prime minister traditionally delivers a televised address to the nation on independence day.
In many Protestant churches, the presiding clergyman. Ministers preach sermons; conduct services; officiate at baptisms, weddings, and funerals; and generally look after the needs of their congregation. Some Protestant churches refer to their clergy as pastors or preachers rather than ministers.
A title used in many countries for members of cabinets and similar public officials, who are roughly equivalent to the officials in the United States cabinet. For example, a minister of foreign affairs will have duties similar to those of the secretary of state of the United States.
On Nov. 16, 2023, the president signed into law H.R. 6363., extending the EB-4 non-minister special immigrant religious worker program through Feb. 2, 2024. The law allows these workers to immigrate or adjust to permanent resident by that date, also known as the sunset date. Non-minister special immigrant religious workers include those within a religious vocation or occupation engaged in either a professional or non-professional capacity. This date on which the program will end also applies to accompanying spouses and children of these non-minister special immigrant religious workers.
A special immigrant religious worker is a noncitizen who is coming to the United States to work full time (an average of at least 35 hours per week) in a compensated position as a minister or in a religious vocation or occupation and be employed by a:
He was the first sitting French justice minister to stand trial. He was tried by the Court of Justice of the Republic (CJR), whose sole remit is to judge incumbent or former ministers for offences committed while in office.
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