What shall I call you?

 

Today marks the beginning of The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 2024, and to mark that we look forward to hosting a united service of Holy Communion with our friends from St Michael’s on Sunday.

A week after my ordination, whilst I was still new to the idea of wearing a clerical collar in public, I was stopped by a young couple in the street and asked if I would christen their baby.  The penny quickly dropped as I realised we were all standing on the pavement beside our local parish church, and they thought I was the (very young!) vicar.  I explained I wasn’t, just a mere Baptist Minister, but I’m sure the real vicar would be delighted to hear from them.

The ’collar’ does provoke a variety of reactions.  Even yesterday, before starting a service in a residential care home, one of the residents asked a question that regularly comes my way: what do we call you: pastor, reverend, father?  I normally answer minister, and then go on to say Ian will do!

Ecumenism has made us aware that our various traditions bring with them different dress codes and forms of address.  Yet, I suspect, the most important thing is not what we are called but how we fill these offices.

A former principal of a Baptist theological college wrote a book a few years ago even conceding the idea that bishops may not be a bad idea, as long as the emphasis is never about the title but the quality of the person who uses it. 

Structures and frameworks are simply that, vessels that need to be filled with leaders who display love, compassion, and integrity.

I once served as the Baptist ecumenical officer for Worcestershire and on one occasion, along with fellow ecumenical officers, attended a morning of meetings at Hartlebury Castle, the residence of the Bishop of Worcester.  At lunchtime the bishop invited us to join him in the enormous dining room for a meal.  Perhaps we expected a procession of staff to serve us, but no – it was the bishop’s wife who greeted us with kind hospitality and brought in two humungous shepherds pies which she and her husband then proceeded to serve. 

Whatever our role, our title, or the sort of collar we wear, our prayer is that rather than stand on ceremony we will fulfil the opportunities of service with faithfulness, kindness and love.

It was a splendid shepherds pie by the way!