Preacher's kid is a term to refer to a child of a

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated to "Ps","Pr", "Pstr.", "Ptr." or "Psa" (both singular), or "Ps" (plural)) is the leader of a Christianity, Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutherani ...

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian denominations, such as the Cathol ...

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

lay leader A lay leader is a member of the laity in any congregation who has been chosen as a leader either by their peers or the leadership of the congregation. In most denominations, lay leadership is not an ordained clerical office, and the lay leader's res ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

, minister or other similar church leader. Although the phrase can be used in a purely descriptive way, it may also be used as a

stereotype In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

. In some countries, a preacher's kid is referred to as a vicar's son/daughter.

Phenomenon

Children of clergy often experience pressure due to the expectations placed on them,J. Elizabeth Norrell,
Clergy Family Satisfaction
," ''Family Science Review'', Vol. 2, No. 4, November, 1989 pp. 337-346. and may develop feelings of isolation and inner conflict as a result. Parental workload (which, by definition, includes working on the weekend) may also be a source of stress. Some writers suggest that there is a "preacher's kid syndrome", in which children of clergy reject religion and the church. Such rebellious children of the clergy are a stock figure in the

Southern literature Southern United States literature consists of American literature written about the Southern United States or by writers from the region. Literature written about the American South first began during the colonial era, and developed significan ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and this view is seen as a

. One literary example occurs in

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama techniques of Realism (theatre), realism, earlier associated with ...

's play '' The Iceman Cometh'' when the traveling salesman Hickey describes his life: "You see, even as a kid I was always restless. I had to keep on the go. You’ve heard the old saying, 'Ministers' sons are sons of guns.' Well, that was me, and then some." Other writers note that children of the clergy (both

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

) may often become clergy themselves, such as

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

, son of Martin Luther King Sr.; and Franklin Graham, son of

Billy Graham William Franklin Graham Jr. (; November 7, 1918 – February 21, 2018) was an American Evangelism, evangelist, ordained Southern Baptist minister, and Civil rights movement, civil rights advocate, whose broadcasts and world tours featuring liv ...

. Children of clergy may be more exposed than their peers to the defining events of life. Former

British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet, and selects its ministers. Modern pri ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

recalled that he learned much about life, death, poverty, injustice and unemployment as the son of a

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

minister. The "preacher's kid" phenomenon has been connected with the related phenomenon of "

military brat A military brat (colloquial or military slang) is a child of serving or retired military personnel. Military brats are associated with a unique subcultureDavid C. Pollock, Ruth E. van Reken. ''Third Culture Kids: Growing Up Among Worlds'', Revise ...

s" (children of active-duty military personnel). Children of preachers who are

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group who is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Miss ...

( missionary kids) may also be

third culture kid Third culture kids (TCK) or third culture individuals (TCI) are people who were raised in a different culture than their parents, for a large part or the entirety of their childhood and adolescence. They typically are exposed to a greater volume an ...

Stereotypes

There are two different stereotypes of the preacher's kid: in one, they are perfectly angelic role models, in the other they are rebels at the opposite extreme.Tara J. Allman
An Analysis of the Stereotypes of Preacher’s Kids and its Application on their Spouses
Masters thesis, Marshall University, 2007. The existence of these stereotypes is a source of pressure on children of clergy. Examples of the negative stereotype include the preacher's son from Maine in the film '' Gettysburg'', described as the "best darn cusser I've ever heard" and Jessica Lovejoy in the " Bart's Girlfriend" episode of ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', as well as the character Ariel in the 1984 film Footloose. On the sitcom ''

Three's Company ''Three's Company'' is an American television sitcom that aired for eight seasons on ABC from March 15, 1977, to September 18, 1984. Developed by Don Nicholl, Michael Ross and Bernie West, it is based on the British sitcom '' Man About the ...

'', the character Chrissy Snow played by Suzanne Somers played off a variety of stereotypes including the " dumb blonde", but also as daughter of Reverend Luther Snow ( Peter Mark Richman), the character – as well as much of the show's humor – was developed around aspects of Chrissy's innocence and naïvety based on a stereotype of her religious upbringing in small town America. The TV series '' 7th Heaven'' is also a good example of the pastor's kid stereotype. The Camden family father, Eric ( Stephen Collins), is a minister, and he and his wife Annie ( Catherine Hicks) have seven children. Sometimes they are perfect angels but most of the time the show displays the trials that the family go through as the children grow up, and often the children are criticized because of who their father is. Lifetime

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 199 ...

series Preachers' Daughters follows the lives of

preacher's daughters and their families. An enduring image from popular music is presented in the hit song " Son of a Preacher Man," a ballad of a woman remembering her first sexual experiences with the son of the local church’s preacher. The song describes the minister's son as a "sweet-talkin' son of a preacher man", a boy who woos and seduces the singer as an adolescent. Because the young man is a ‘preacher’s kid’, the implication is that the singer’s family believes him to be of no moral threat to their daughter, unlike other young men. This is further supported by the lyrics “The only one who could ever reach me/Was the son of a preacher man/The only boy who could ever teach me/Was the son of a preacher man." Several singers and entertainers have covered the song including

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

, whom it is most synonymous with, and

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

. It was Franklin, who was the daughter of a Baptist minister and had given birth to her first child at age 12 and her second child at age 15, who was the inspiration for “ Son of a Preacher Man” songwriters John Hurley and Ronnie Wilkins. It is unknown if Wilkins or Hurley knew of Franklin’s personal life when writing the lyrics, as Franklin did not like to discuss her early life or first two children in public, or if it was merely coincidental. The "preacher's daughter" is also a pervasive negative stereotype ascribed to female children that has a particular set of connotations, often sexual, rebellious, or dark in nature. The stereotype is typically suggestive of a dual life: one lived as the expected descendant of piety and the other lived wild, outside of the morals of religion, cloaked in secrecy. Songs such as "Preacher's Daughter" by American R&B singer-songwriter Anthony Hamilton exhibit this role: "She had a habit that she couldn't really stop, needed money so she had to hit the block, nobody knew it so she steady had to play a role, went to church, but surely tearin' up her soul... she was a Preacher's Daughter."

Other terms

In Scotland, to be a "child of the

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

" is considered very influential on a person's upbringing. In German, the terms ''Pfarrerskind'' and ''Priesterkind'' are used to refer to children of clergy. Greek surnames with the prefix ''Papa-'' and Armenian surnames with the prefix ''Ter-'' or ''Der-'' refer to people who are the descendants of clergy.

Phenomenon

Stereotypes

Other terms

See also

References

Further reading