Collar

Sue Sorensen is Associate Professor of English at Canadian Mennonite University, Manitoba, and an active member of First Lutheran Church in Winnipeg. She is the author of a novel, 'A Large Harmonium', and the editor of 'West of Eden: Essays on Canadian Prairie Literature'.

A marvelous mix of scintillating literary criticism and probing theological reflection, Sue Sorensen has provided insight into why funny stories are funnier and tragic stories more tragic when a clergyman is the principal character. But she also explores the deeper question, 'Have these artists, as outsiders looking in, captured that mysterious soul of the one who has that special call from Christ?'

• Foreword by William H. WillimonAcknowledgmentsPrelude: Why Literary Ministers?Interlude: “The Collar” by George Herbert1. Heroism and SufferingRomero, The Mission, Becket, Murder in the Cathedral, The Power and the Glory, GileadInterlude: Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos2. The Counselor/ConfessorGeorge Eliot, E.M. Forster, A.S. ByattInterlude: Scenes of Clerical Life by George Eliot3. Fools for ChristTristram Shandy, The Vicar of Wakefield, Bleak House, The Warden, Monsignor Quixote,Heavens Above!, Rowan Atkinson’s vicarsInterlude: Barbara Pym and Jan Karon4. The Collared DetectiveBrother Cadfael mysteries, Father Brown stories, The Name of the RoseInterlude: Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton5. Passion, for Better and for WorseThe Scarlet Letter, The Crucible, Racing Demon, PriestInterlude: The Book Against God, a Novel by James Wood6. Failure, for Worse and for BetterJane Eyre, Middlemarch, Margaret Oliphant, Jane Austen, John Updike, Clint EastwoodInterlude: Doubt, a Parable by John Patrick Shanley7. DisasterA Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Brand, The Spire, Light in August, RainInterlude: Pale Rider, directed by Clint Eastwood8. Frustration: The Collar on ScreenThe Thorn Birds, Footloose, 7th Heaven, Keeping the Faith, The Vicar of Dibley, Rev.Interlude: The Bing Crosby and Richard Burton Movie Priests9. Clergy Wives and Daughters: The Concealed CollarA Clergyman’s Daughter, Bed Among the Lentils, The Rector’s Wife, CandidaInterlude: The Bell by Iris Murdoch10. The Canadian CollarThe Stone Angel, Such is My Beloved, As For Me and My House, Good to a Fault,Robertson Davies, Ralph Connor, Stephen Leacock, Warren CariouInterlude: Lights and Shadows of Clerical Life by William CheethamPostlude: Corpus permixtumBibliographyIndexScripture Index