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Cooke Bernard:  Ministry to Word and Sacraments: History and Theology (Philadelphia OA Fortress Press 1976)
Cooke's aim was to present a balanced assessment of the evidence on the Christian priesthood its central and focal position in the interlocked complex of Christian faith and life.  His book provides a thorough account of the historical bases for understanding the priestly role and function arguing for a declericalised church and a return to a broader understanding of ministry than was current in the seventies.
A recurring theme in  the book is that in the primitive church the presbyterial role and function arose in the community itself among the 'elders' of the Christian community.  Thus the presbyter was the community's gift to the church as the bishop and deacon were the church's gift to the community. Over time however the priest too became a gift of the ;church to the community a situation we inherit today.
The book is in five parts and in each part the history of that aspect of ministry is carefully delineated: Each part concludes with a theological reflection on its material.
From the Introduction

"The basic inadequacy of our present understanding of Christian priesthood and ministry is only too painfully apparent." [Quote p 20]

"It is generally assumed that all the clearly Christian things that an ordained priest has done he [sic] has done by virtue of his priestly ordination  --  an apparently logical but really misleading assumption.  During the centuries whan the intrinsic role of the laity was overlooked or even explicitly denied much of the basic Christian responsibility for witness and service was approriated by the ordained clergy and by religious communities ... [we must] distinguish between the functions a man [sic]performs by virtue of his baptism and membership in the Christian community and the function he performs by virtue of his ordination to ministry.  ... much of the present activity of the ordained belongs properly to any Christian  --  though not all Christians have the dedication or freedom to undertake it." [Quote p. 22]

"It may well be that the attempt to find some element in ordained ministry that will discriminate between it and the function of the church as a whole will come to focus on the question: 'is there a sacrament of orders ?' " [Quote p.24]

"a theology of ministry can only exist as part of an integral ecclesiaology.  ... perhaps in deepening the notion of 'community' studying the particular way in which Christianity is meant to be community we can discover the ways in which certain persons or groups of persons can function in an ordered way to foster that community.  This approach may permit us to think more creatively about the forms of specialised ministry that our present religious situation demands." [Quote p24]

From Part 1 'Ministry as formation of community':

"The community envisaged by the New Testament writers as the goal of Christian ministry (including the ministry of Christ himself) is not basically a matter of social arrangement.  Rather it is the deeper reality involved in people sharing a common insight into the meaning of life. ... beneath the diverse socail patterns of the early ekklesai lay the unifying reality of Christ to whom all the churches gave the tribute of their faith the unifying influence of Christ's Spirit the unifying influence of the common gospel they all accepted and to which they all witnessed.  In facing our present-day question about the intrinsic nature of Christian ministry it is critically important to keep in mind that it is this more profound level of Christian community which must be seen as a governing objective for ministry. ... to assert the primacy of the 'spiritual' dimension of Christian community; it is to recognise that all external forms brought into being or sustained in being by the church are for the sake of this communion in faith and love and worship and all questions about the retention or reshaping or evolution of these forms are to be answered in the light of this finality." [Quote p 41]

"The very fact that Christian ministry is participation in Christ's ministry shouls warn us against driving too large a wedge between 'ministry' and 'priesthood'.  The heart and culmination of Jesus' own ministerial service to his fellow humans undoubtedly came in his death and resurrection which is also his supreme act of priestly sacrifice. ... Jesus' 'priesthood' and 'priestly sacrifice' have to do more with his 'being'; in his being the risen Christ he 'is' sacrifice whereas his 'ministry' has to do with the 'activities' of service that flow from this priestly-sacrificial way of being." [Quote p 197]

"All Christian ministry finds its origin in the salvic ministry of Jesus himself; throughout history Christian theology is united in recognising this principle.  There has also been agreement on the principle that all authentic Christian ministry involves a participation in Christ's own ministerial mission and power ... Jesus in his risen life as Christ and Lord remains actively present to and operative through the Christian community [and therefore] 'participation in the ministry of Christ' means an ongoing cooperation between Christ and the community in the work of establishing the kingdom of God i.e. achieving the destiny of mankind." [Quote p.197]

"Granting the essentially extraordinary context of [the primitive church's] community existence granting also the directive impulse coming from the Spirit the approach of the early Christians and their leaders to the establishment of ministries was quite pragmatic.  They attempted to provide the kinds of ministration that were needed to maintain the kinds of community which would nurture faith and hope and charity.  This pragmatic approach continued over the centuries to characterise the evolution of structures in the church more specifically the evolution of ministry.  Changes and innovations were made in the light of the needs that arose and then theological reasoning was devised to justify these new patterns." [Quote pp 197-8]

From Part 5 Ministry to the church's sacramentality

"Precisely because the priestly worship of Christ is a constant reality (Heb 10:12-14) and because he abides with his brethren whom he appoints to himself in his Body (John 15:1-11) the entirety of Christian existence is caught up in the cultic context the whole of Christian life is meant to be an act of worship. ... such statements must be taken with strict literalness even if that may require adjusting our notions of worship." [Quote p.528]

"[In the New Testament texts] the action of Eucharistic blessing is one of recognising the saving act of God of proclaiming his great deeds as these find culmination in Christ's death and resurrection of expressing the conversion and dedication of life that are appropriate response to the gospel.  Within such an action by a believing community the leadership role becomes essentially a prophetic role.  The liturgical leader is the one who publicly voices the blessing the witness to God's saving action in Christ the prophet whose own word carries the divine word of power and authority." [Quote p.530]

"Differing mechanisms of selection formation screening approbration and appointment develop within the different Reformation communities but some such mechanism is found quite universally even to some extent in the Radical Reformation communities.  But though ordination in some sense is commonly accepted there is a notable absence of the idea that such ordination places the individual on a special sacred level of Christian existence.  Yet ... even the Reformers who stress the universal priesthood and basic equality of all Christians stress also the special good example expected of the ordained." [Quote p.603]

"Today& [i.e. 1976] there is broad acceptance confessional and theological  of some special Christian sacramentality in the ritual by which the various churches designate ministers to lead their worship services.  There is general agreement that the designation and empowering (however one may wish to understand these two notions) are not purely human that somehow the call from God and the empowering by the Spirit enter into the picture." [Quote p.641]

"The role of liturgical leadership includes a sacramentalising of the unity between a given Eucharistic celebration and the Eucharist of the entire church.  This this particular ministry appears to be a collegial ministry that is meant to be exercised corporately. An individual cannot function as liturgical celebrant without some membership in the collegium. ... By receiving a new member into its midst each collegium shares with him [sic] the charism and function it possesses in common and the initiate undertakes the corporate responsibilitties and contributes to the corporate activity of the group." [Quote p.642-3]

"The sacramental actions are the ritual moment in a much broader sacramental process: the entire corporate living of the community involving the whole life experience of its individual members is sacramental because the Body of Christ is a sacrament of his presence.  The entirety of Christian living is a continuous act of worship; the sacramental rituals are specially formalised expressions of that worship." [Quote p.645]

"Christian faith is ... a conscious acceptance of Christ's self-gift and consequently Christ is personally present wherever there are Christians who believe in him.  So when a group of Christians gathers for Eucharist the risen Christ is present because of their faith.  It is inaccurate to suppose that he becomes present only with the consecration of the bread and wine.  ...  The level of presence is commensurate with the level of friendship." [Quote p.647]