How a pastor is to be addressed

i'm in the deep south where "Bro Bobby" is what i'm usually called (to my face at least, lol). I've told a lot of people i just prefer "Bobby" because i'm not old enough or smart enough for a title.
Plus, if i'm thinking in terms of the unchurched too...they don't know what this "Bro" stuff means. But that is just my opinion.
I guess if worst comes to worst, calling me "Pastor Bobby" would be the least of these.

Bobby...which i still prefer to be called

 

I refer to everyone in church as Brother or Sister, as do almost all other Primitive Baptists that I know.

It's a sign of kinship and equality among the brethren.

Alcott, the term "reverend" did not come into popular used among Baptists of any kind until the mid to late 1800's. The prefered term before this, for most Baptist groups, was Elder.

The Primitive Baptists, and many of the other small Baptist groups, have maintained this title while the larger Baptists groups have, for the most part, not.

I am curious as to why that is the case.

Could it be that the Arminian-leaning brethren have so declared that men are not totally sinful and given the title of God to a mere man on this ground?

It could be that since many people have moved away from the Arminian positions in the past few years that the term is becoming less common because people feel that men are not truly deserving of such a title.

Maybe, maybe not...it's just speculation.

Within the Primitive Baptists, a minister called "reverend" is a dead giveaway that his church is of the "Progressive PB" persuasion.

Almost all black Primitive Baptists that I have seen or heard of fit under this category. I wonder why that is?

Oh, well, but, to the point about this particular title, we should revere no man, yea, rather God.

 

Just about everyone here calls me either Tony or Bro Tony. Can't stand to be called Reverend that belongs to the Lord, not me.

On the other hand I did get a unique name one Sunday morning as I stepped into the courtyard of the church and this three year old girl shouts out when she sees me, "Look mommy its the creature". She had heard people call me the preacher and it came to her as the creature.

Bro Tony

 

I know of one retired pastor here who still goes by the title Reverend, even though he is no longer a pastor... He's Assembly of God though, not Baptist.

window_wax

 

How about addressing him in time for dinner.

LOL

I answer to Brother, Pastor or just my name.

God Bless

Bro. Fred

 

I am surprised at the number of folks that disparage the usage of the term "reverend".

I find it interesting that brethern would object to a term for "pastor" that most non-Christians would be comfortable with.

Is this a cultural (SBC, IFB, Primitive, or Northern) difference in word choice?

 

Seldom have I ever had a non-Christian call me reverend. If they did I just asked them to call me by my first name.

 

That is what I get most often from people outside the church ... well, either that or "Father." I usually don't say anything about it. It is a custom ... a cultural thing. If the "Father" persists, I will point out that I am not a Father and that most people just call me Larry. If people call me Reverend, I don't really care. It is a non-issue.

Is this a new office in the churcH????

 

In the military, I was called Padre (which means father). Always just called pastor or Mr. in fellow Baptist churches, but Rev. or Rev. Dr. at the university.

Quite frankly, what people called me just didn't matter; they called me, and that is what counted.

So many seem to sweat the little things and forget the overall image, which speaks volumes.

Cheers,

Jim

PS..pastor is an office and not a title

 

I object to it because there is only one truly reverend one, and that is definitely NOT me.

It is not surprising to me that non-christians are ok with this title, because they do not know Christ and do not really understand that there is only one reverend one.

 

The scripture says to call no man father as well, but we insist on being called father by our children.

It might be an idea to read the whole Psalm 111 and get the whole message around the only use of the word reverend....He manifested Himself in the sum of His perfection....Brown.

You can't get excited about going overboard on one word. None of us who use "The Reverend Mr" as a title claim anything near the attributes of God.

Cheers,

Jim

[ April 02, 2005, 08:40 PM: Message edited by: Jim1999 ]

 

Actually I'm "dada".

I will call pretty much anyone whatever they want to be called, be a knick name or title or whatever.

If I don't know how a pastor wants to be called I will refer to him as Pastor "Last Name" (or Dr. Last Name if I know they have a doctorate).

 

I understand what you are saying, but I would still rather leave that title alone...if others want to use it that is fine by me. But just call me Pastor, or Bro. or just plain David.

 

I really have a problem calling my pastor by his first name. He prefers to be called by his first name and he is younger than I am, but I usually call him "Pastor".

 

I call my Pastor's "Pastor (last name)"

But I would never address them without a stamp.


In HIS service;
jim

 

Generally, I have my fine flock call me:

"The most High Baptist Bishop, Holy, Dr. Reverend Pastor."

It is a little formal, perhaps even a little stuffy in the minds of some, but certainly a title worthy of my calling and work, don't you think? After all, with all my education, experience, etc., surely I deserve a title indicative of what I have done for God's glory, don't you agree? I would think others of you would agree, and would move ASAP to have your Deacons and/or Elders make a formal recommendation to your church to get this title into your church Bylaws. Afterall, you don't want to much longer without this much-deserved title being used daily as people need to correspond to you. God Speed, Signed:

'The Most High Baptist Bishop, Holy Dr. Reverend Pastor Lee" {Sounds nice, huh?}

Sorry about this post, but you asked, so I thought I would share. by the way, I have only been pastor of this church for a few weeks, and oddly enough, at the last church Business Meeting, the Deacons made a motion, "That the church delcare the pulpit vacant, a new Pastor Search Committee be formed ASAP, and my tenure as pastor come to an end effetive immediately" .... I cannot for the life of me figure out why they did this, can you? It really devastated me, being such a high, holy, one, you know.

What do you think caused this action? what should I do next?

 

I don't feel uncomfortable AT ALL by calling my pastor by his first name, which is what he prefers. His view is his position is the vocation God has called him to, just like being a cop is what God has called me to. He says, "Should I go around calling you Deputy Garrett all the time? No, that would be pretty silly." He contends he is no better than anyone else, a sinner saved by grace.

His humility is something all pastors should strive for.

I have a friend of mine who is now a speaker promoting abstinence for Focus who was once a youth pastor at a church here in the city. He was very harshly chastised in front of several in the congregation by our pastor, who had a doctorate, for calling that pastor by his first name instead of "Dr." so and so. Yet, that pastor called him by his first name. Anyway, it was very obvious to those there that the pastor had some serious humility issues to work out.

I would hope there's not a single pastor on this board who REQUIRES anyone call them anything other than by their first name. It would be silly to do otherwise.