Clergy: The Origin of Species

Clergy

The Origin of Species

19.10.2006

Clergy: The Origin of Species takes a serious yet frequently humorous look at how the role of the clergy has evolved over the centuries. Using unexpected insights from foundational thinkers like Charles Darwin and Michel Foucault, Martyn Percy charts the rise of the highly professionalized clergyperson in modern society. From historical "thumbnail" sketches to familiar cultural touchstones like The Vicar of Dibley, the book unpacks how clerical identity, dress, status, and hierarchy have been continually constructed and contested.

Keen to dispel romanticized, idealized notions of ministry, Percy draws on personal experience and the practical realities of parish life to show how the modern priest is, relatively speaking, a recent innovation. Ultimately, the book argues that for the "clerical species" to survive, ministers must successfully adapt to their cultural environment while retaining a critical, prophetic distance.