The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Bruce, Did You Use the “Reverend” Title as an Evangelical Pastor?

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Bruce Gerencser

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Reverend is a title people should look down on, not up to.

— Christopher Hitchens

I am an ordained Baptist preacher. I am also ordained through the Universal Life Church, and the Church of the Latter Day Dude. I have every right to claim and use the “Reverend” title. However, I never used the title. I despised the attention the title gave me. I just wanted to be an everyday Joe; a first among equals in the church.I asked congregants to call me by my first name, Pastor Bruce, or Preacher. I preferred the latter. If I was anything. I was a preacher. Besides, it saved me from hearing people horrifically butcher my Hungarian last name — Grr-IN-sir (though there are a few Gerencsers who pronounce their surname Grincer.

Years ago, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Bryan Times. When my letter was published, it showed my name as The Reverend Bruce Gerencser. Give me a break. A call to the editor let him know that I preferred no title. He was somewhat surprised since many local pastors wanted or demanded the Reverend (and/or Doctor) title be used.

I was content to blend into a sea of working-class people, ministering to their needs without nary of thought about what they called me.

Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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Comments

5 responses to “Bruce, Did You Use the “Reverend” Title as an Evangelical Pastor?”

  1. Avatar
    Karen the rock whisperer

    I was a Silicon Valley engineer for two decades. I knew several senior people who had PhDs, though most engineers don’t go beyond a master’s degree. But a senior system architect for a product line might need a good research background. In the workplace, engineers tend to be respected for knowledge and output, and you only discover that one has an advanced degree when they make a throwaway comment about a particular educational experience. So our entire workgroup was quietly amused when a new hire insisted on having his office door nameplate be “Dr. [firstname] [lastname]”. We considered it irrelevant boasting.

    During my transition to geologist, I did some lab grunt work for the USGS. I also got a ton of help from some very senior scientists in making sense of my master’s thesis data. They would laugh if I used their title. The most senior people were comfortably on a first-name basis with the greenest student at the local state university.

    So, based on my secular experiences, fancy titles aren’t necessary and can derail professional respect.

    Reply
    1. Avatar
      Bruce Gerencser

      Years ago, I called my in-laws and Polly’s cousin’s husband answered the phone. He was a newly minted Independent Fundamentalist Baptist preacher — a graduate of Pensacola Christian College.

      He answered, “Hello, this is Reverend James Overton. How may I help you?” I chuckled and said, “Hey Jamie, let me talk to Mom.”😜😜

      Sadly, some preachers are full of themselves, thinking they are “special” or deserve respect. I saw a lot of this title nonsense in the IFB church movement. Preachers are people, just like folks in the pews. Those who think more highly of themselves than they ought, are setting themselves up for a fall. Even the Bible says, “pride goeth before a fall.”

      Reply
    2. Avatar
      JT

      I’m an engineer as well, for about 30 years now. The only people I have ever met in the secular world that wanted to be called “Dr. _____” were my college professors (Excluding medical doctors). After my time in the real world, I feel they are the least deserving of said titles because they don’t have a clue as to how the real world works… LOL!

      Reply
      1. BJW

        When I was getting a Bachelor of Music, all the doctorate profs went by doctor. That was important there but none of them acted in the least bit snotty. (Okay, not to me so much as I was a good musician and student!)

        Reply
  2. Avatar
    ObstacleChick

    My company hired a chemist to be the R&D Director a few years ago. He had a PhD in chemistry from UPenn, looked like a solid background at a few companies. In practice, he accomplished absolutely nothing, was full of lies, made up stories all the time, and couldn’t even manage the basic functions of the lab. It was a good lesson that a prestigious pedigree on paper does not equate to competence (much less to excellence).

    Reply

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