About the different terms of priest
关于牧师的不同称谓
From the American author @Denise Dianaty whose novel "The dance plays on" is one of my favorites.
来自美国作家Denise Dianaty的小说《永不消逝的舞蹈》对话录。
Yes, "the Cloth" means the priesthood, usually of the Catholic church. It is a very old colloquial turn of phrase; it's pretty much only used when writing in historical settings as in my book. Back then, there weren't so many Christian denominations. So, using "the Cloth" could still be broadly understood as the career of being a priest.
No one says it that way today.
是的，"the Cloth"指的是教士身份，通常是天主教堂的。这是一个很古老的口语化短语，正像我书里一样，大多数情况下，仅用于有历史背景的写作中。那时并没有太多的基督教派。所以“the Cloth”能被广泛理解为牧师生涯。当然，现在没有人用“the Cloth”这种说法。
The modern vernacular refers to them as priest, pastor, minister, or preacher – depending on the particular denomination's or community's predilections.
现代则有priest,pastor,minister和preacher等多种方言称谓，取决于特殊教派或社区的偏好。
It's partly because there are so many denominations, and partly colloquial, and partly due to the particular duties. All priests don't preach, but a "preacher's" job is to deliver sermons from the pulpit… i.e., "to preach;" very often, preachers are not full time and have other careers simultaneously. "Pastor" derives from the concept that the local church leader watches over and cares for his/her church community – they provide "pastoral service" to the parish or congregation and community; this includes things like visiting hospitals, charity outreach, home visits, funeral services, etc. "Priest" is the oldest term, I believe; it is a more generic term covering all the other titles, but can also be monastic and is always male only in Catholicism and orthodox churches. "Minister" is roughly interchangeable with "pastor;" the minister provides ministerial care to his/her congregation.
部分是由于不同教派，部分由于通俗叫法，部分由于特殊的职责。并非所有的牧师都布道。但一个“preacher”的工作是在讲道坛上布道训诫。但通常，preacher并非全职布道，他们同时还兼有别的工作。“pastor”取自于当地教堂领导关心视察他/他的教区情况的理念，即教堂领导向教区或教堂会众和社区提供牧师职责的服务；这包括拜访医院，慈善宣传服务，家庭拜访，葬礼仪式服务等。我相信“priest”是最古老的称谓。它是一个更通用的术语，囊括所有其他种类的称谓。它也可以指僧侣修道院的，且总是男性，仅限于天主教和东正教教堂。“minister”大体上可以与"pastor"互换。minister也向教堂会众提供牧师职责的服务。
Again, the choice between "pastor" or "minister" or "preacher" may also be a local colloquial use. But, the terms may also be used interchangeably. My pastor may be referred to as "preacher" by someone else in the same church. I might refer to him/her as "minister" at times. It's kind of fast and loose how the terms are used.
另外，"pastor","minister"或"preacher"也可能是当地口语的因素。总之，它们应该也可以互换。在同一教堂内，我的pastor可能被别人叫做 preacher。有时，我可能叫pastor为minister。这些称谓的使用并没有严格的界限，是灵活松散的。
Author: @DeniseDianaty
Chinese transltor: @kaixin