What is Clergyman?
[[File:S. Baring-Gould portrait.PNG|thumb|Sabine Baring Gould]] A '''clergyman''' is an [[wikt:ordain|ordained]] [[Minister (Christianity)|minister]] of the [[Anglican Church]], or of some other [[Protestant]] churches. 'Vicar' and '[[pastor]]' are other possibilities. 'Rector' is used in some [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Presbyterian]] churches. 'The [[clergy]]' is often used as a group term. The word '[[cleric]]', meaning a [[wikt:clerk|clerk]], is the root term. It comes from the fact that all clerics could read and write, at a time when this was a rare skill. By general use and convention, Anglican ministers are not called [[priest]]s. This is because the unqualified term '[[priest]]' or 'father' is widely used as referring to the [[Catholic Church]]. Of course, in modern times an Anglican minister may be female, in which case the term 'reverend' or 'minister' may be used. == Related pages == * [[Clergy]] [[Category:Christian religious occupations]]