What to call an Episcopalian priest

[Ljrm18]

My brother-in-law AND his wife my sister-in-law have both left the Catholic church are both becoming Episcopalian priests. I have a feeling they will want to be referred to as Father T**, and I don’t know what I’d call my sister-in-law, etc, but I’m not comfortable with that, as it seems inappropriate to me? Is there a guide on how to refer to someone like that?

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

I think that within the family, clergy members are often referred to as “Bill” or “Sue.” But in a more formal setting, I would use whatever title they prefer. It’s considered polite to address people in the way they want to be addressed.

 

[runningdude]

It is not a moral issue to refer to Protestant clergy by a formal title. You could also stick to “Reverant”, rather than “Father” (or “Mother” as the case may be).

My brother-in-law AND his wife my sister-in-law

Not to pry, but how are you related, haha?

 

[Ljrm18]

It’s my husband’s brother and his wife

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

If your family is demanding formal titles you have other issues.

 

[TheLittleLady]

I refer to people as they wish me to refer to them. “Do you want to be Fr Jim or Rev Smith”?

 

[DeniseNY]

Aren’t they usually referred to as Reverend?

If you’re not sure, just ask them how they would like to be addressed. Perhaps in informal, family settings they would want to be called anything other than their given names.

 

[Steve4321]

My sister is ordained in the Lutheran Church. I’ve never called her anything other than Susie…since becoming adults, that is. When we were younger I had some other choice names for her.

My wife’s brother is a Catholic priest. He’s always been Andy to me.

Family get togethers are “interesting” at my house.

 

[Allegra]

I’ve never even heard of a Catholic priest being called “Father” by their own family! However, I believe the correct term is “Reverend”. Ask yourself, aside from the weirdness of being asked to call a family member by their honorary title, would you have a problem addressing Pastor Tim or Reverend Jacobs from the First Church of Whatever, if you weren’t their sibling? What is the point of NOT doing that? As Catholics, we believe that our Church was instituted by Christ and has the fullness of Truth. It does not follow that every other Christian is “fake”. In fact, they have a great deal of the Truth. They are on a journey, just like all of us. There’s no reason to refuse to use their pastoral title. Now, when they’re your own brother, that’s weird. But that’s another issue.

 

[Allegra]

PS- An interesting side note; The priest in the town my husband comes from has a dog and he calls him “Rev”.

 

[Joe_5859]

As others have said, simply continuing to refer to them as you always have isn’t a problem.

If it were me, and there was a setting that seemed like it wasn’t appropriate to refer to them by their first name, I’d probably stick with “Reverend” as that is perfectly acceptable. I don’t think I could call a non-Catholic minister “Father” or “Mother.” But neither would I expect a non-Catholic to call a Catholic priest “Father” if they were uncomfortable with it. We have a maintenance guy at our parish that isn’t Catholic and he refers to our priest as “Pastor [last name]”. No problem with that. The priest is the pastor, too.