# Reverend ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 4, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804 "2000-02-04T02:16:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/1 "2000-02-04T02:16:00Z")
## Went out for a walk the last night, found myself next to Grace Cathedral (at the top of Nob Hill in San Francisco), noticed on the directory that the Right Reverend so and so and the Very Reverend such and such were presiding over various events. What are the meanings of these titles? How does plain old Reverend and Pastor fit into them? And where does that leave me, an agnostic, in that set up? 😕 “If we would have new knowledge, we must get a world of new questions” ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/2 "2000-02-04T04:11:00Z")
It leaves you wandering and confused, looking at cars parked nose in and wondering what would happen to them in an earthquake. 😃 Peace, mangeorge * * * I only know two things; I know what I need to know And I know what I want to know Mangeorge, 2000 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/3 "2000-02-04T04:21:00Z")
This thread may be of interest: [Ranks of priests in Catholic church"](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/004608.html). - Rick ---
**Author:** ![MrKnowItAll](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrknowitall/32/87_2.png) [@MrKnowItAll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrKnowItAll)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/4 "2000-02-04T04:35:00Z")
On a slight tangent… I grew up in a Christian Church. (As opposed to a Christian **c** hurch. Closely related to the Church of Christ and the Disciples of Christ.) They make it a point to _not_ call their ministers “reverend” or “father”. The reasoning is that these are titles that elevate these people to levels above the rest of us mere mortals. “Minister” is the excepted title of these denominations. * * * Mr. K’s Link of the Month: What is John Kricfalusi (“Ren and Stimpy”) doing these days? [The Goddamn George Liquor Program](http://www.spumco.com/entertainment/webcartoon.html) ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/5 "2000-02-04T15:31:00Z")
Grew up Baptist, “Pastor” is the title there. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/6 "2000-02-04T19:12:00Z")
As I just pointed out on another thread, “Reverend” isn’t a title at all. It falls into the same class as “Honorable”, to be used with a title or a full name. Most Protestants (and most Americans) get it wrong, though. The details of what “reverend” goes with what office/rank/degree vary from church to church, but, on the whole, the upward progression is: Reverend Very Reverend Right Reverend Most Reverend In Anglicanism, “Venerable” goes between “Reverend” and “Very Reverend”. (In RCism, on the other hand, “Venerable” is a step on the path up to “Saint”.) * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2000, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reverend/6804/7 "2000-02-04T21:23:00Z")
Venerable is, IIRC, the appropriate epithet for an Archdeacon in both Anglican and Roman usage. However, it is also (and far more commonly) used for a dead person who has been “Beatified” but not “Canonized” (the ranks for sainthood) in the Roman Catholic Church. I mean, when is the last time you had occasion to address an Archdeacon formally? Minor note: The proper usage here has been dealt with on other threads, but to quickly reiterate… 1. Reverend goes with _full names_ or with title and surname. He is the “Reverend John Jones” or the “Rev. Mr. Jones” not “Rev-rund Jones” 2. Proper written usage includes the “The” at the beginning. If addressing a letter to the Bishop of Assboink, it would be \>\>\>The Rt. Rev. Hubert Coldfire \>\>\>Bishop of Assboink \>\>\>St. Swithin’s Cathedral \>\>\>199 Flathead Road \>\>\>Assboink, ID 89199