Father Denis Kennedy's photo in the St. Joseph Catholic Church booklet, printed in 1958 when the new church was dedicated, reminded me of the old newsroom rule related to the title of "Father."
According to the AP stylebook, the so-called Bible of journalists, "Thou shalt not call a priest Father.”
That’s one of the first things I learned when starting to work at The Sun oh so many years ago. I was told to write “the Rev.” in front of a priest’s name.
“The Rev. Rule” applied to all clergymen except those in the Church of Christ, and they sent word to newspapers that they didn't want any title preceding their names...
While many Protestant pastors – Baptists in particular – told us they preferred to be called Brother, their Lutheran counterparts requested the title of Pastor.
I used to have it around and around with my good friend, the Rev. – pardon me, Pastor -- Harold Bomhoff of St. Paul Lutheran, who disagreed with the policy vehemently. Frankly speaking, he didn't care what the AP stylebook said. He was to be addressed as Pastor Bomhoff in print and in person.
Secretly I agreed with Pastor Bomhoff because, in my opinion, newspapers should try to please their readers more than sticking rigidly to a stylebook. For the sake of consistency, yes, adhere as much as possible to the AP rules but use some common sense and consideration.
Rarely was I ever on first-name basis with ministers visiting the newsroom but an exception was P. Walter Henckell, rector of Trinity Episcopal. Officially he was the Rev., but among friends he was known simply as P. Walter.
I never went to his church but got to know P. Walter over the years during his frequent visits to the newsroom.
P. Walter never preached at people; he didn’t need to. His kind manner, abiding faith and sense humor impressed everyone he met. He was kind of like St. Francis, who advised Christians to preach the Gospel constantly and only when necessary, say words.
One of P. Walter’s favorite Bible verses became one of my favorites, too, from Proverbs 17:22. “A merry heart doeth good like medicine but a broken spirit drieth the bones.” Amen to that!
Nowadays, it’s the norm for people to address pastors by their first names. The first time I noticed this trend was when Paul Stephens led the flock at Second Baptist. People throughout the community addressed him Brother Paul.
This friendly, folksy manner of addressing the clergy gradually caught on with priests and preachers in general.
Living on Maryland Street, I grew up within walking distance of five dynamic churches, including St. Joseph, First Baptist, Virginia Street Church of Christ, Trinity Episcopal and St. Mark's Methodist. With all these worshippers in the neighborhood, it’s a wonder our streets didn’t “runneth over” with baptismal waters.
St. Mark's original name was Baytown Methodist, and its original building stood on Georgia Street and then for many years on Oklahoma. Upon relocation to Missouri Street, the Virginia Street Church of Christ changed its name accordingly.
Besides being told not to call Father Kennedy “Father” when I started to work at The Sun, I was tutored on the spelling of his first name. Denis has one "n." Remember that.
Well, it was hard to remember. Reporters, editors and proof readers would get confused about whether to drop the "n" from his first or last name and sometimes the name would emerge in print as Dennis Kenedy.
Finally, we news roomies began calling him "Father One-N Kennedy,” thereby remembering to use only one “n” in his first name.
I doubt that the priest ever knew about our little memory aid, but it probably would have amused him. Like P. Walter, Father One-N Kennedy had a merry heart.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor for The BaytownSun.