Minister-in-Waiting

For the last four years I have been entitling myself Trainee Minister.

That hasn't been my formal title. That title is much longer! Officially I have been a Candidate for Full-Time Ministry of Word and Sacrament with the Church of Scotland.

It is a bit too long to use on my Business Cards! Also it is rather impenetrable. Even if someone knows what all the words mean, it's a bit difficult to deduce that the title refers to someone who is training to become a Minister.

The shorter version used in the training regulations is 'Candidate'. But by itself it doesn't tell anyone anything - except that one is a Candidate for something!

So I adopted the term Trainee Minister, which in two short concise words, seemed to tell everyone what they wanted to know. I am working as a Minister, but I am still under Training, and therefore I am liable to get things wrong more often than one might otherwise expect!

During the past fifteen months I have been working full-time in the Final Placement of my training programme. This placement used to be called the Probationary Placement, because although the Trainee had been Licensed to Preach, that Licence could be revoked if one's copybook became too blotted.

During that Probationary Placement the Trainees were called Probationers. But now that the our License is not granted until after the Final Placement, it is no longer a Probationary Placement. Thus the Trainees are still called Candidates, although informally everyone calls them Probationers, because no-one has invented a better title!

It does get you some funny looks though. When you tell some new acquaintance that you are on Probation, they wonder what crime you have committed, and where they can find the nearest Policeman or Parole Officer!

Now that I am no longer a Trainee Minister, or a Probationer, I am wondering what term I should now use to introduce myself.

When I checked up the regulations, I discovered that officially I am a Graduate Candidate. That will be my title until I become Ordained into a Parish as the Minister.

But I'm sorry, that title is no less enlightening than being called a Candidate, or even a Probationer. In fact, I know that some Candidates call themselves a Graduate Candidate when they Graduate with their BD Degree. But that's not right either!

I think I might use the term Minister-in-Waiting, because that's what it feels like for me, and it will probably give a pretty accurate picture for anyone to whom I introduce myself.

I suppose there is a slight chance they might think I am some kind of soon-to-be Government Minister, or maybe some kind of Royal Minister (like a Lady-in-Waiting). But given that I will be standing in front of them, I doubt that anyone will entertain that notion for long!

So Yes, I like the sound of Minister-in-Waiting! What do you think of that title?