Beckie, as you wish.
Hi Ted. I cited the NASB, you can read it here:
"16to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles, ministering as a priest the gospel of God, so that my offering of the Gentiles may become acceptable, sanctified by the Holy Spirit."
Taken from:
https://biblehub.com/nasb_/romans/15.htm
Now, if we look at the Greek, the word is
"in the priestly service
ἱερουργοῦντα (hierourgounta)
Verb - Present Participle Active - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2418: To minister in holy things. From a compound of hieron and the base of ergon; to be a temple-worker, i.e. Officiate as a priest. " Taken from:
https://biblehub.com/romans/15-16.htm
And here is a commentary from that same link:
"Elliot's Commentary: (16) Minister . . . ministering.--These are two different words in the Greek, but allied in their signification. Both refer originally to the liturgical service of the Temple; the first to the whole of the functions both of the priests and Levites, the second to the special function of the priests in the offering of sacrifice. St. Paul is a "minister of Jesus Christ;" i.e., his sacred office was given to him by Christ; it was Christ who appointed and ordained him to it; and his special duty as a priest of the gospel was to see that the Church of the Gentiles, whom it fell to him to present as a sacrifice to God, should be fit for such a sacrifice, made holy by the indwelling Spirit, and therefore acceptable to Him to whom it was offered."
In the Early Church, this Analogy was often made by the Church Fathers: Bishops, Presbyters, Deacons are the Three Orders of the Christian Priesthood, that have succeeded to the Three Orders of the Jewish Priesthood, High Priests, Priest and Levites.
In the Bible, a distinct Greek word is used for Bishop, ἐπισκόπους (episkopous) (e.g. Acts 20:28), Presbyter (πρεσβυτέρους (presbyterous) (e.g. Titus 1:5) and Deacon. Unfortunately, some English Translations sometimes render Bishop as "overseer" and Presbyter as elder.
The Early Church Father St. Ignatius (died around A.D. 110) of Antioch (were the disciples were first called Christians, as we read in Acts), who was a companion of the Apostle St. John, wrote this shortly before he died: "
Chapter 8. Let nothing be done without the bishop
See that you all follow the
bishop, even as
Jesus Christ does the
Father, and the
presbytery as you would the
apostles; and reverence the
deacons, as being the institution of
God. Let no man do anything connected with the
Church without the
bishop. Let that be deemed a proper
Eucharist, which is [administered] either by the
bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it. Wherever the
bishop shall appear, there let the multitude [of the people] also be; even as, wherever
Jesus Christ is, there is the
Catholic Church."
https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0109.htm So again, we see, Eucharists, Bishops etc, Biblically and historically, goes back to the Early Church. God Bless.