reverend

The Reverend is an honorific style most often placed before the names of Christian clergy and ministers. There are sometimes differences in the way the style is used in different countries and church traditions. ''The Reverend'' is correctly called a ''style'' but is often and in some dictionaries called a title, form of address, or title of respect. The style is also sometimes used by leaders in other religions such as Judaism and Buddhism.

The term is an anglicisation of the Latin ''reverendus'', the style originally used in Latin documents in medieval Europe. It is the gerundive or future passive participle of the verb ''revereri'' ("to respect; to revere"), meaning " ne who isto be revered/must be respected". ''The Reverend'' is therefore equivalent to ''The Honourable'' or ''The Venerable''. It is paired with a modifier or noun for some offices in some religious traditions: Lutheran archbishops, Anglican archbishops, and most Catholic bishops are usually styled ''The Most Reverend'' (''reverendissimus''); other Lutheran bishops, Anglican bishops, and Catholic bishops are styled ''The Right Reverend''.

With Christian clergy, the forms ''His Reverence'' and ''Her Reverence'' are also sometimes used, along with their parallel in direct address, ''Your Reverence''. The abbreviation ''HR'' is sometimes used.

Usage

In traditional and formal English usage it is still considered incorrect to drop the definite article, ''the'', before ''Reverend''. In practice, however, ''the'' is often not used in both written and spoken English. When the style is used within a sentence, ''the'' is correctly in lower-case. The usual abbreviations for ''Reverend'' are ''Rev.'', ''Revd'' and ''Rev'd''.

''The Reverend'' is traditionally used as an adjectival form with first names (or initials) and surname (e.g. ''The Reverend John Smith'' or ''The Reverend J. F. Smith''); ''The Reverend Father Smith'' or ''The Reverend Mr Smith'' are correct though now old-fashioned uses. Use of the prefix with the surname alone (''The Reverend Smith'') is considered a solecism in traditional usage: it would be as irregular as calling the person in question "The Well-Respected Smith". In some countries, especially Britain, Anglican clergy are acceptably addressed by the title of their office, such as ''Vicar'', ''Rector'', or ''Archdeacon''.

In the 20th and 21st centuries, it has been increasingly common for ''reverend'' to be used as a noun and for clergy to be referred to as being either ''a reverend'' or ''the reverend'' (''I talked to the reverend about the wedding service.'') or to be addressed as ''Reverend'' or, for example, ''Reverend Smith'' or ''the Reverend Smith''. This has traditionally been considered grammatically incorrect on the basis that it is equivalent to referring to a judge as being ''an honourable'' or an adult man as being ''a mister''.

Although it is formally an incorrect use of the term, ''Reverend'' is sometimes used alone, without a name, as a reference to a member of the clergy and treated as a normal English noun requiring a definite or indefinite article (e.g. ''We spoke to the reverend yesterday.''). It is likewise incorrect to form the plural ''Reverends''. Some dictionaries, however, do place the noun rather than the adjective as the word's principal form, owing to an increasing use of the word as a noun among people with no religious background or knowledge of traditional styles of ecclesiastical address. When several clergy are referred to, they are often styled individually (e.g. ''The Reverend John Smith and the Reverend Henry Brown''); but in a list of clergy, ''The Revv'' is sometimes put before the list of names, especially in the Catholic Church in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

In some churches, especially Protestant churches in the United States, ordained ministers are often addressed as ''Pastor'' (as in ''Pastor John'' or ''Pastor Smith''). ''Pastor'', however, is considered more correct in some churches when the minister in question is the head of a church or congregation. Some Protestant churches style their male ministers ''The Reverend Mister'' and a variation for female ministers.

Male Christian priests are sometimes addressed as ''Father'' or, for example, as ''Father John'' or ''Father Smith''. However, in official correspondence, such priests are not normally referred to as ''Father John'', ''Father Smith'', or ''Father John Smith'', but as ''The Reverend John Smith''. ''Father'' as an informal title is used for Catholic, Orthodox and Old Catholic priests and for many priests of the Anglican and Lutheran churches. In England, however, even Catholic priests were often referred to as "Mr" until the 20th century except when members of a religious order. "Mr" is still usual for priests of the Church of England.

Some female Anglican or Old Catholic priests use the style ''The Reverend Mother'' and are addressed as ''Mother''.

In a unique case, ''Reverend'' was used to refer to a church consistory, a local administrative body. "Reverend Coetus" and "Reverend Assembly" were used to refer to the entire body of local officials during the transformation of the Dutch Reformed Church in the mid-18th century.

Variations

''The Reverend'' may be modified to reflect ecclesiastical standing and rank. Modifications vary across religious traditions and countries. Some common examples are:

Christianity

Roman Catholic

* Religious sisters may be styled as ''Reverend Sister'' (in writing), though this is more common in Italy than in, for example, the United States. They may be addressed as ''Sister'' (in writing or in speaking).
* Deacons are addressed as
** ''The Reverend Deacon'' (in writing), or ''Father Deacon'' (in writing or speaking), or simply ''Deacon'' (in speaking), if ordained permanently to the diaconate.
*** ''The Reverend Mister'' (in writing) may be used for seminarians who are ordained to the diaconate, before being ordained presbyters; ''Deacon'' (in speaking); nearly never ''Father Deacon'' in the Latin Rite in English.
* Priests, whether diocesan, or in an order of canons regular, in a monastic or a mendicant order, or clerics regular ''The Reverend'' or ''The Reverend Father'' (in writing).
** Protonotaries Apostolic, Prelates of Honor and Chaplains of His Holiness

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