Father as Form of Address for Anglican Clergy

Please see also the FAQ Forms of Address for Anglican Clergy.

The normal form of address for an Anglican priest or deacon is "the Rev." as in "the Rev. John Doe" or "the Rev. Jane Smith".  The salutation in a letter, or when referring to the individual in writing, is Mr. or Ms. e.g.  "The Rev. John Doe celebrated the Eucharist.  Mr. Doe is a graduate of the Montreal Diocesan Theological College and a member of the local ecumenical council."

Some clergy, usually those who would identify themselves as members of the Anglo-Catholic wing of the church, use the title Father.  They identify themselves this way ("Good afternoon, I'm Fr. John and I am the new incumbent at Holy Trinity Church.") and are glad to be addressed in conversation or correspondence as Father.  A very few women clergy ask to be addressed as Mother but this is quite uncommon.

When we publish general information about Forms of Address for clergy we provide information that is uniformly correct and can be used in all cases.  We do not suggest "Father" as a form of address because some clergy find it unacceptable and unwelcome.  The use of the term "Father" and the invitation to use it, like the invitation to use one's given name  ("Please call me Michael / Susan".) is never assumed.  Individual clergy are of course welcome to let people know their preference for names, titles and forms of address.

The Crockford's Clerical Directory (the published clerical directory of the Church of England, Church in Wales, Scottish Episcopal Church and Church of Ireland) follows the same forms in its section "How to Address the Clergy".

Revised 7 March 2007