Mission without Preachers is not possible apparently.A very interesting recent thread about the Sadducees and Pharisees stirred my mind to find out more about preachers and priests, and what Christians can do to make thier work more effective, or in fact whether we need them at all. (afterall I am a layman)
So of course, this layman turned to the Bible for enlightenment. It seems the first recorded Priest was Mel-chiz-ed-ek (my hypens because if he is so important, people should try and pronounce his name) in Genesis 14:18
Then Exodus27:21 says that the Levites took over the responsibilities.Moses, Aaron and his Four sons and descendents were supposed to be Priests and helpers for evermore.In fact Numbers 18:6-7, Levites are given complete authority and noone else is allowed to handle sacred objects King Jeroboam ( Kings 13:33) chose a Priest who was not a Levi and this resulted in total destruction. (much like Iraq at the present time) There are over 200 references to Priests in the Bible and I will mention just a few to “help paint a picture”.
Ezra 9:1-2 says clergy should not marry undesirables.
Jeremiah 5:30-31 20:1 Priests sink to alltime low-- much dereliction of duty.
Ezekiel 13:17 Some preachers are “evil women”.  2500 yrs on and women still have not been forgiven apparently.
Ezekiel 44:20-22 has a whole raft of requirenents for Priests . About their hair , their wives and the Levites are punished for their misdeeds. They are confined to “helpers”. No more Levite priests. 
Acts20:7-12 Sleeping during sermons is permitted. At least you wont get killed for it. I am lucky to be alive.
Acts 23:6-8 refers to the aforementioned battle between the priestly groups,the Sadducees and Pharisees.
There is not much in the New Testament about Priests and their duties. No doubt this is partly due to their part in the death of so many Christians.
But Relevations 5:10 says that if we keep the faith, we will earn our place in the coming “ kingdom of priests”. So it appears that the highest order we mortals can attain is to be Priests (in eternity)
Looking around the world at the trouble religion has in getting across a constructive and not fundamentalist message, I think it would be beneficial to get peoples views on Priests, preachers, prespyters, ministers and vicars.
The Anglican church has trouble with Priests over dress, Biblical words and a few men with different sexual biochemistry. I don’t have a clue how the Catholic Church is going to find asexual, celibate and heterosexual men to fill its enormous requirement for Priests. Many churches are getting full of electronic gadgets. Perhaps an “E meter” can replace God as well as the Priest. Now that really is movie world.

Faith without reason, is like a church without a cornerstone.

Re: Preacherman- Who Art Thou

G’day Doug,

It’s a common misconception, but the bible does not consider ministers today to be the counterpart of the Old Testament priests. The function of OT priests was to act as an intercessor between God and man (see Deut 5:24-28, Ex 32, Lev 1).

The New Testament makes it pretty clear that this role has been fulfilled perfectly in Jesus who continues to intercede for us (Heb 4:14-5:10, 7:25). Because of this we no longer need an earthly mediator, we share free access to the throne (Heb 4:16). (This is also the significance, by the way, of the tearing of the curtain to the holy of holies at Jesus’ death - Matt 27:51)

Because of this free access to worship the New Testament calls every Christian a ‘priest’ (Rev 1:6, 1 Pet 2:5).

So what then is the role of “preists” in our churches? Firstly it is a misleading term. The NT uses the word “presbyteros” which strictly just means ‘elder’. They are not a different class or a higher calling, except perhaps for the greater responsibility they share in teaching the word (Jas 3:1). It is a role of leadership and encouragement, but other than that NT ‘priests’ are no different to any other Christian.

Preacherman

G’day Nathan’
Thanks for your correction.I was aware of the torn curtain significance, but it slipped my mind. Hope I don’t forget again.