Assuming Smallville has just one church, which denomination would it be? And given that, what would you call the man or woman in charge (I'm guessing 'minister' but thought I'd check) and what would he or she wear when not officiating at a service? I'm guessing ordinary clothes with a dog collar, but again thought I'd check.

Yvonne

I would think it would probably be Methodist. According to adherents.com, there are more Methodists in Kansas than any other denomination.

I used to know a Methodist pastor who had this thing about not being called a "Minister". He said all members of the congregation were supposed to minister to each other, but that he was the pastor of the flock. That might be just this particular pastor's idiosyncracy though. I do know that we also say "Pastor" at our church (not Methodist).

All of the pastors I know wear regular clothes (no collar) unless they are on official business (at church, hospital visits, attending a funcion, etc.)

- Vicki

I grew up in a Methodist church and we call them pastors. Pastor Vic, Pastor Earl, Pastor Harv, etc.

They don't wear any special type of clothing or a collar or anything. They would wear a suit on Sunday or any other time it's appropriate (like a wedding, funeral, etc.), but other than that, they just wear regular clothes. Harv (the youth pastor) even has an earring and used to wear his long hair in a ponytail until he lost it in a fundraiser for the youth group.

~Anna

I am not sure that Smallville would have just one church. My relatives live in various small towns in Ohio, and even in a little crossroad town, there are *tons* of churches! In Bristolville (a town at the crossroads of Ohio 88 and Ohio 45), there is a general Christian church, a Methodist Church, a Presbyterian Church, and on the outskirts, the Catholic Church my aunt and uncle go to! In Killbuck, which is slightly bigger, there are a few churches on every street! Millersburg is the same way. I am pretty sure you can find any church from any religion you would like there. Even Amish!

Then again, my small town experience is limited to Ohio small towns . I'm not sure what it is like in Kansas. I live in one of the biggest cities in Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, and we have over 8 Catholic churches, and if you want virtually any other kind of religion, there is probably a church or temple just a few miles away.

While I'm hardly an expert on churches, or religious demoninations, there is no reason to believe that Smallville would only have one church.

According to the TV show, Smallville has a population of 45,000, which is patently absurd, but that's what writers who come from cities with populations in the milliions think is a small town.

But, even given a population more logical it would depend on the make-up of the town's people, and the surrounding farms. Maple Lake is a small town near where my folks used to have their cabin, and later lived. It has less than 2000 people in it. They have both a large Catholic church (they majority of the town claiming to be catholic), and a small non-denominational protestant church.

Granted, this is coming from someone observing from the 'outside', but it seems that Protestant groups are more flexible in where they might go to worship, whether it be Methodist, Luthern, or whatever. But Catholics who adhere to their particular precepts seem less likely to 'get their religion' from a non catholic source.

So, what I'm trying to say is... Unless the religious make up of your Smallville is overwhelmingly of one faith, you're likely to have more than one place of worship, however small it might be.

Tank (who nevers argues matters of faith with others because they only raise questions that can never be answered in life, but will be answered for everyone after they die)

Yeah, I just knew you'd be falling over yourselves to tell me there'd be more than one church <g>. I accept that, but I'm only interested in the church that farmers and their friends might attend - if that helps narrow it down at all.

Thanks for the responses so far.

Yvonne

I didn't know Smallville was so large! If that is the case, then there would *definitely* be more than one church. I grew up in a town of under 20,000, and there were churches of every denomination possible.

- Vicki (who still goes with Methodist)

I have to agree. I lived in a town with about 10,000 people, and there were all sorts of churches: Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Catholic, and even a synogague. The only town I ever lived in that only had 1 church has.. wow, a population of 3000. Really, it seemed smaller than that. It didn't even have a stop light, and the main road didn't stop at all -- went from the state line (edge of that town) to a town 15 miles away before there was a stop at all. Actually, I take that back. I'd forgotten about the Catholic Church, and the one I was thinking of is a Presbyterian.

Yvonne, your reply doesn't change anything. If the local farmers and 'their friends' have to go into town to get supplies and do their general shopping they will also go to town to go to church, if it's that important to them.

Farmer's don't tend to be any one particular religious denomination over another anymore than any other profession.

I guess I don't understand your question.

Tank (who is good at not understanding things)

Yeah, I agree with Tank. "Farmers" generally aren't just one religion . That's why there are so many churches, even in a small community made up of many farmers!

LOL! This is becoming way more complicated than it needs to be. All I need is to know:

a) when a certain person is sitting in this church pretending to pray, could they tell from squinting sideways from under their hands whether or not the man who's just approached them is the minister/pastor/priest or not (ie, would he be wearing a cassock);

b) how I should refer to said minister/pastor/priest in the narrative.

Seems to me that I've got my answers - any Christian religion will do, with a preference for Methodist.

Thanks!

Yvonne

a) unless said person is personally familiar with the pastor, no -- there'd be no special clothing to tip them off. There might be clues, but nothing obvious.

b) not sure -- if I were referencing one of my church's pastors, I'd say "Pastor Chad" or "Pastor Jeff" but I think face-to-face in conversation, I'd probably just use their first names. And then sometimes I'm not sure, so I avoid the issue by not calling them anything in particular

Oh, and I agree with everyone who said Smallville would have more than one church. Probably 90% or more of the population would profess to be Christian of one type or another (whether they actually go to church would be another issue, but still).

PJ
who really should go read her email... tomorrow morning...

To clarify my statement about only being identifiable while on official business, the pastors I know don't wear a collar while performing the service, but they do (or, rather, some do) put on a robe. After the service, they take the robe off and are in regular clothes.

Since we're all agreed that there would be quite a few churches to choose from I just wanted to add that if you *want* the person in your story to recognize the pastor/minister/priest, you could always have them be in a Catholic or an Episcopalian (sp?) church. (In which case, they'd call the priest "Father".) OR, you could have them be in church immediately before or after a regular service at the church of your choice, while the pastor still has his robe on.

- Vicki

When I went to church (Episcopalian) when I was younger, we always just called the priest by his first name, which happened to be Bob. No title attached. And this was in a community with 100,000 +, so it wasn't a small town thing.

*shrugs*

I grew up in a Catholic church, and we called the priests "Father" and then their last name. So "Father Carlin" was *never* "Father John". The rule was sort of relaxed for priests who were not the pastor. Although, my cousin is a priest in Florida, and he is called, "Father Tom" by his parishinors, and he is the pastor of his church. In Catholic churches, there is only one pastor (and you never actually call him "Pastor"), and the other priests assigned to the church are just associates.

You can generally identify a Catholic priest very easily. Priests, even when they are not on official church business, often wear black shirts, pants, and a white collar. If they are a specific order (like Fransiscan), you can identify them from their simple brown robes and rope belt with three knots). If my cousin does anything at all formal or anything at the church, he wears his priest clothes. It's only when he is at home or with family and friends that he is able to dress in civillian clothes, so priests are very easily identifiable. When he celebrates mass, depending on the church season, he wears his black priest clothes with a long white robe and then a colored robe over it. If you've seen pictures of the pope, Catholic priests look kinf of like that when they are celebrating mass with the exception of the hat.

I doubt there would be only one church in Smallville. You're talking about the American Midwest here, remember -- that's the Bible Belt. I lived in Indiana for 3 years in my teens, and even the tiny little town that had sprung up outside the Crane Naval Ammunition Depot had something like 4 or 5 churches in it.

Currently, I live in Southern California, in a town of about 30,000. Ramona was one of the old mining towns from the American Gold Rush, circa 1849. It currently has something like fifteen churches or more, so I can say with some authority that Smallville would have at least 3 or 4.

As for whether you could tell if it was the pastor or an assistant, it would depend on the church and the pastor's particular choice of what to wear at services. In many cases, no, you would not be able to tell unless you personally knew him.

Nan

I live in a small town surrounded by farmland like unto Smallville that's in the Bible belt. Forget three or four--we've got more like 7-10.

Now, it depends on what the person in charge is called. <g> If there's a LDS church, he's the Bishop. So it's Bishop (last name). I have no idea about any other church, because, well, I've never really been to 'em. And as for clothes, well, white shirts, ties, and suits (depending on weather) are the order of the day.

Laura

Edit after reading the rest of the thread: <astonished> You mean you have to sit in a church to pray? Man, that would sure limit your opportunities!

Um...where did anyone say you have to sit in church to pray?

Yvonne
(scratching her head...)

Yvonne, unless I missed something, I think Laura was thinking of this line in one of your posts:

but that's not exactly the same as saying someone *has* to be sitting...

PJ

If you are praying in a Catholic church, not during mass, you tend to pull out one of the kneelers and kneel with your head in your folded hands.

Then again, I haven't actually *been* to said Catholic church in 10 or so years .

- Laura

<g> Unless they're Jesuits. I almost never see any of them in their black outfits when they're roaming around campus between classes.

JD
who admittedly should be boarding up for Sunday's hurricane