Combining thematic analysis and stimulating close readings, The Collar is a wide-ranging study of the many ways--heroic or comic, shrewd or dastardly--Christian ministers have been represented in literature and film. Since all Christians are expected to be involved in ministry of some type, the assumptions of secular culture about ministers affect more than just clergy. Ranging across several nations (particularly the U.S. Britain, and Canada), denominations,...

"When you choose what's worth fighting for ... expect a war. The highly-educated millennial, David Harper, is adrift. He is also the pastor's son. Or he was, until his father dropped dead in the pulpit. When David learns his widowed mother is in danger of losing the roof over her head, he surprises everyone, most of all himself, and steps in to fill his father;s shoes. David knows it won't be easy to dynamite the small congregation into the twenty-first...

Raised by three aunts after the death of his grandmother, pastor Terrance finds himself targeted by their determined matchmaking efforts, which turn troublesome when Terrance falls for a troubled woman whom they find unsuitable.