Do evangelical ministers train to have southern/Texas accents?

[I_thirst_4_YOU]

this might be the funniest post of all time…LOL!!!

 

[mabibleteacher]

I believe it all resorts back to the “personal” aspect of many protestants faith. Its all about me and Jesus. My church. etc… Thus, its no longer the Bible. It’s your Bible.

Plus, it becomes a thing of habit. When I was a pastor I always told the congregation to turn in their Bibles because

1. It sounded more proper, gramatically speaking
2. Its what I heard other pastors say so I just repeated.

I do believe you are correct. To say "turn to THE Bible would indicate that there is only one actual physcial Bible to turn to. That would mean everyone would be sharing one Bible.

 

[Cat]

I would like to return to the original OP.

I grew up in evangelical churches–Conference Baptist (Minnesota origin), Christian church, Southern Baptist, Christian and Missionary Alliance, and Evangelical Free Church in America.

Yes, I’ve noticed that many evangelical pastors have Southern-like accents. But I don’t think the accents are Southern as much as they are “pulpit.” Even the Northern pastors have them. It’s kind of “countrified.”

One of my friends growing up is now a famous best-selling author and speaker in evangelical churches and at seminars and conferences. You would recognize his name if you have any knowledge at all of evangelicals.This guy is about as NORTHERN as you can get, but even when we were children and teenagers, he would lapse into a “pulpit accent” whenever he gave a testimony or some kind of Bible talk. Now that he is grown and 50, he still has that accent. He went to school up North and lived up North and now lives out West, but still has that accent.

But to put the shoe on the other foot, I feel that a lot of priest have “Vatican accent.” They drag out their vowels and sound like they’re chanting instead of speaking, and it’s always so gentle. In a way, it sounds rather effeminate. I’m sure that most priests aren’t even aware that they are speaking this way. I’m glad that the monsigneur at our parish talks pure Chicago, like a gangster!

 

[Feanor]

Ah- this is interesting “pulpit accent”

I know what you are saying about some priests. I grew up in Richmond, VA and I loved hearing Bishop David Foley speak at mass- he sounded like God! (big booming voice)

 

[CantorRick]

I do believe you are correct. To say "turn to THE Bible would indicate that there is only one actual physcial Bible to turn to. That would mean everyone would be sharing one Bible.

"Scuusee me whahl ah hi-jaacckk th’s heah threeaad.

 

[Cardinalsong]

Y’all got a point. But Ah’d lak to heah a priest with a gooo ol’ Irish accent agin.

Aye me lad (or lass)! Like Father Patrick Peyton or Father Fitzgibbon from “Going My Way”. :irish3:

 

[Gigglin4God]

Yall are wondering about this like I wonder if when a Catholic Priest in Australia starts Mass, if he tells his parish right off the bat , “G’day” Then starts with the sign of the cross. . Just something I wonder about.

 

[John7]

I’m jjust curious because this seems universal. Even those not from the south or preaching in Texas have this feature.

I got up very early this Sunday, couldn’t sleep, and watched four different Christian (2 baptist and 2 I couldn’t tell-nonCatholic) preachers. Lo and behold all had varying degrees of southern accents. I didn’t believe so at first, but maybe there is something to this

 

[mabibleteacher]

I got up very early this Sunday, couldn’t sleep, and watched four different Christian (2 baptist and 2 I couldn’t tell-nonCatholic) preachers. Lo and behold all had varying degrees of southern accents. I didn’t believe so at first, but maybe there is something to this

Nah, it’s just that the southern churches are the only ones that let cable TV into their services

 

[grampben]

Aye me lad (or lass)! Like Father Patrick Peyton or Father Fitzgibbon from “Going My Way”. :irish3:

LOL Irish accent, not pirate accent me heartys!

 

[spoiltvictorian]

Thanks to mass media local dialect is disappearing. It’s natural these days for anyone to talk like those they admire, whether they are pastors or businessmen. I am the businessman, and I hate this because I can’t revert to a “natural” dialect – it’s either sound like somebody or sound like nobody. So while some pastors sound out of place using that style of preaching I can’t fault them for it.