In most Protestantchurches, a minister is a member of the ordained clergy who leads a congregation; such a person may also be called a Pastor, Preacher, or Elder. In many churches, ministers are required to be seminary-trained although some churches allow laymen to preach.
The word minister as originally used in the LatinChurch was a translation of the Greek 8cauovos, deacon; thus Lactantius speaks of presbyteri et ministri, priests and deacons (De mort.
Bishops signed themselves minister in the spirit of humility, priests were "servants of the altar" (ministri altaris), while sometimes the phrase ministri ecclesiae was used to denote the clergy in minor orders (see Lex Bajwar.
In general it is distinctive of constitutional states that any public act of the sovereign must bear the countersignature of the minister responsible for the department concerned.
However the variety of relationships is large, ranging from the low church view of a minister as one of the people to that of the minister as priest, set apart and with special authority.
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