Minister of religion in the context of "Parachurch"

In certain Christian denominations, holy orders are the ordained ministries of bishop, priest (presbyter), and deacon, and the sacrament or rite by which candidates are ordained to those orders. Churches recognizing these orders include the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox (ιερωσύνη [hierōsynē], ιεράτευμα [hierateuma], Священство [Svyashchenstvo]), Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, Assyrian, Old Catholic, Independent Catholic and some Lutheran churches. Except for some Lutherans and some Anglicans, these churches regard ordination as a sacrament (the sacramentum ordinis).

Denominations have varied conceptions of holy orders. In some Lutheran and Anglican churches the traditional orders of bishop, priest and deacon are bestowed using ordination rites contained within ordinals. The extent to which ordination is considered sacramental in these traditions has, however, been a matter of some internal dispute. Baptists are among the denominations that do not consider ministry as being sacramental in nature and would not think of it in terms of "holy orders" as such. Historically, the word "order" (Latin ordo) designated an established civil body or corporation with a hierarchy, and ordinatio meant legal incorporation into an ordo. The word "holy" refers to the church. In context, therefore, a holy order is set apart for ministry in the church. Other positions, such as pope, patriarch, cardinal, monsignor, archbishop, archimandrite, archpriest, protopresbyter, hieromonk, protodeacon and archdeacon, are not sacramental orders but specialized ministries.

The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage priest refers only to presbyters and pastors (parish priests). The church's doctrine also sometimes refers to all baptised members (inclusive of the laity) as the "common priesthood", which can be confused with the ministerial priesthood of the ordained clergy.

The church has different rules for priests in the Latin Church–the largest Catholic particular church–and in the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches. Notably, priests in the Latin Church must take a vow of celibacy, whereas most Eastern Catholic Churches permit married men to be ordained. Deacons are male and usually belong to the diocesan clergy, but, unlike almost all Latin Church (Western Catholic) priests and all bishops from Eastern or Western Catholicism, they may marry as laymen before their ordination as clergy. The priesthood is a vocation for men; a similar but distinct vocation for women is the sisterhood. The Catholic Church teaches that when a man participates in priesthood after the Sacrament of Holy Orders, he acts in persona Christi Capitis, representing the person of Christ.

The laying on of hands is a widely-used religious practice.

In Judaism, semikhah (Hebrew: סמיכה, "leaning [of the hands]") accompanies the conferring of a blessing or authority. In Christian churches, chirotony is used as both a symbolic and formal method of invoking the Holy Spirit primarily during baptisms and confirmations, healing services, blessings, and ordination of priests, ministers, elders, deacons, and other church officers, along with a variety of other church sacraments and holy ceremonies.

The ordination of women to ministerial or priestly office is an increasingly common practice among some contemporary major religious groups. It remains a controversial issue in certain religious groups in which ordination was traditionally reserved for men. Where laws prohibit sex discrimination in employment, exceptions are often made for clergy (for example in the United States) on grounds of separation of church and state. In some cases, women have been permitted to be ordained, but not to hold higher positions, such as (until October 2025) that of Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England.