(Creative Commons License – Bec Thomas Photography)

I recently finished an article for the church magazine and, as I got to the final line, encountered the usual problem: what is the best closing phrase?

Yours truly…best wishes…warm regards…yours in Christ…finally done…

I ended up going with an Advent and Christmas theme, as it fit the article, but then I hit another snag.

Rev…..Reverend….Revd…..or just Adam

I chose “Revd. Adam Copeland” as that is how I’m most often described by the people in charge of these things. Part of me, however, feels a bit strange using the “title,” or if we’re being accurate, the “style” or “honorific,” since I’m not ordained. It seems, though, the Scottish church doesn’t make a clear distinction for the “Reverend” address while at home, it’s a bit more cut and dry.

I’m also aware of a school of thought that prefers not to use “Reverend” at all. In case you were wondering, here’s a few quick rules of etiquette.

“Reverend,” strictly speaking, is an adjective that means, “deserving reverence” and has a more specific meaning, “relating to or characteristic of the clergy.” That’s why, in more formal usage, “reverend” should not simply function as a noun.

So if you were wondering–and I know you weren’t–in formal settings it wouldn’t be proper to refer to a minister as simply “Reverend.” And, in direct address and formal settings a minister should simply be, “Mr. or Mrs. Doe.” Others argue that the use of “Reverend” necessitates using more than a surname. So “Reverend Smith” is incorrect but, “Reverend John Smith” or “The Reverend Jane Doe” is correct.

Also, if we’re being crazy strict, it’s not proper to use “Reverend” in formal writing, or at least not “Reverend Jane Doe.” A minister, in formal writing, should simply put her name followed by her degrees.

        Jane Doe, B.A., M.Div., Ph.D.
(I think that’s right. Please correct me if I’m way off here.)

Ok, enough about properness and formality. Apologies to those for whom this is all very important but I don’t think the world will fall apart if people stop using “The” before “Reverend.” In fact, I’m pretty certain we’ll be alright since the common usage has already changed and all hell has failed to break loose.

Ministers of Word and Sacrament prefer to be called many things–I’ll answer to about anything, really–some like Pastor, others Reverend, or Brother/Sister, or Minister, or Priest.

Though it’s not common in the majority white Presbyterian churches to which I’m accustomed, I think I like Brother best since it’s biblical and does not suggest a hierarchy. And I would advocate that everyone in the church should be referred to as Sister or Brother, not just the pastor. If anywhere, church should be the setting in which we can drop formal honorifics and worship and work on equal footing. The distinguished theology professor with two Ph.Ds while teaching children’s Sunday school is just another brother or sister in Christ helping glue the cotton balls onto cut-out sheep.

Of the clearly ecclesiastical descriptors I prefer Pastor. I see Minister as the office to which one is ordained and Pastor as the best descriptor of those duties.

For an example on the other end of the spectrum, here’s Martin Luther’s introductory letter to his 95 Theses.

To the most Reverend Father in Christ and most illustrious Lord, Albert, Archbishop and Primate of the Churches of Magdeburg and Mentz, Marquis of Brandenburg, etc., his lord and pastor in Christ, most gracious and worthy of all fear and reverence—

At the end of the day, I think a minister’s character communicates much more than the honorific or method of address he prefers. That said, I do think the preferred address communicates, to some small extent at least, the character of the minister.

I would love to hear folk’s perspective on this, particularly those ordained or currently working in churches. Do you prefer “Reverend” or not? Is it too hip for your church for the minister to be known only by her first name? For anybody: what does “reverend” communicate to you?