ministry

08:29 Jun 8, 2010 

Nowadays, a "ministry" denotes more than just the pastor and his/her duties. It embraces all active participants in a church (deacons, missionaries, Sunday school teachers etc) and even the building itself. Other components of the ministry include bibles, tracts, and even mundain things like electricity bills etc. "ministry" has taken on this commercial aspect over the past 30 years, particularly in the US.

08:11 Jun 8, 2010 

That is very well explained, thank you very much. I think the word "ministry" here works on two levels - one is the more abstract level which is expressed by the German term "geistliches Amt" and which includes "intercession, counselling and spiritual warfare" and more. The second level is a more literal one, which the German "Dienst/e" expresses. I think here, while the "geistliche Amt" is in the background, it is justified to use "Dienste".

19:25 Jun 7, 2010 

I am well placed to provide some input here. To "minister" is a wide-ranging concept which includes the notion of "witnessing" (unflaggingly propagating the Gospel from the pulpit and beyond for the purpose of converting non-believers), being of practical service to the church community and beyond (responsibilities to the community at large, e.g. performing weddings, helping the poor etc.). A pastor's "ministry" is the Oberbegriff that encompasses all the tasks that a preacher assumes, be they spiritual or "wordly", as my Dad would have said. "geistliches Amt" is sort of what is meant here, though it will be difficult to find an adequate translation. It's all about being "im Dienste Jesu".

18:19 Jun 7, 2010 

Ach ja, British Diana, ich hatte denselben Gedanken und fragte nach - es ist wirklich "spiritual warfare".

18:18 Jun 7, 2010 

Sorry - I tend to forget to mention the context after the first question... Dieser Satz ist Teil einer Webseite einer religioesen Organisation, die in Israel arbeitet. Hier wird das Personal vorgestellt, u.a. ein Paar, das gerade erst (oder noch nicht) angekommen ist. Ich denke, "Dienste" trifft es ganz gut. "Priesterliches Wirken" waere in einem christlichen Zusammenhang vielleicht angebracht, aber hier handelt es sich um das Judentum und es sind keine Rabbis, sondern "Laien".

14:56 Jun 7, 2010 

meistens eigentlich Dienst oder Werk: http://dict.leo.org/forum/viewUnsolvedquery.php?idThread=277...〈=de