minister

noun

1. A person who is trained to preach, to perform religious ceremonies, and to afford pastoral care at a Protestant church.

   “The minister said a prayer on behalf of the entire congregation.”

2. A person (either a layperson or an ordained clergy member) who is commissioned to perform some act on behalf of the Catholic Church.
3. A politician who heads a ministry

   “He was newly appointed to be Minister of the Interior.”

   “Ministers to kings, whose eyes, ears, and hands they are, must be answerable to God and man.”

4. In diplomacy, the rank of diplomat directly below ambassador.
5. A servant; a subordinate; an officer or assistant of inferior rank; hence, an agent, an instrument.

   “[…], I choſe / Camillo for the miniſter, to poyſon / My friend Polixenes: […]”

   “And Moſes roſe vp, and his miniſter Ioſhua: and Moſes went vp into the mount of God.”

verb

1. (intransitive)To attend to (the needs of); to tend; to take care (of); to give aid; to give service.
2. (intransitive)To function as a clergyman or as the officiant in church worship.
3. (archaic, transitive)To afford, to give, to supply.

   “I do vvell beleeue your Highneſſe, and did it to miniſter occaſion to theſe Gentlemen, […]”

   “([…] Now he that miniſtreth ſeede to the ſower, both miniſter bread for your foode, and multiply your ſeede ſowen, and encreaſe the fruites of your righteouſneſſe)”

   “We minister to God reason to suspect us.”