Minister
A minister is a person who leads a Protestant church; 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. Compare with priest.
A minister is a politician who heads a government ministry or department (e.g. education, finance, health, state, war etc...). Senior ministers are members of the cabinet, usually led by a prime minister or president.
The term "minister" comes from a Latin word meaning a "servant" (or first servant). In some countries (such as the US), such a person is instead known as a secretary or secretary of state.
A few ministers:
- 17th
Century
- France
- Jean-Baptiste Colbert, French Minister of Finance
- François-Michel le Tellier, French Minister of War
- France
- 20th
Century
- Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda
- Moshe Dayan, Israeli Minister of Defense
- Sheila Copps, Canadian Minister of Heritage
- 21st
Century
- Ali Shamkhani, Iranian Minister of Defense
- Muhammed
Saeed al-Sahaf, Iraqi Minister
of Information
Lists of ministers
- Cabinet
details ministries in various countries, e.g.
- Cabinet of Canada
- United States Cabinet
- Cabinet of the United Kingdom
- Cabinet
of Sweden
- not to be confused with Swiss Federal Council
- Other cabinets are usually included in Politics of ..-articles
- Lists of incumbents groups lists of ministers by country
- Specific ministers:
- Prime Minister
- Foreign minister
- Defence minister
- Finance minister
- Interior minister
- Health minister
- Justice Minister
- sometimes Chancellor


