I was at a conference a few years ago, and in a seminar the moderator got onto that subject of seeing one's pastor around town and yelling, "Hey, Joe!" And he started in on how that defies giving 'double honor' to an elder. That, as I recall, had nothing to do with the subject of the seminar, but something recently brought that incident to mind, so that is the reason for the poll.
I do recall as a kid in the early 70's that sometimes in church on Sunday nights our pastor would invite 'testimonies' or 'praise reports,' and so many of the people, especially the elderly ladies, would always start their little speeches saying, "Reverand ___,..." And my mother, who worked as a service representative for the telephone company, told of an incident where a man registered for new phone service, listing his occupation as "Minister," and she addressed him as "Rev. ____" It turned out he was a 'Church of Christ' minister and she said he "almost screamed" at her for calling him that. But C of C's were among the first to openly refuse that type of title, to my knowledge. Anyway, I get the idea that it's only in the last 35 or so years that Baptists have come play down using the "Rev." title. Newspapers, giving wedding or funeral notices, still refer to most ministers as "the Rev. ___" and there doesn't seem to be much protest. Maybe this represents a loss in formalities as much as re-examining the title itself.
But still, almost always addressing a pastor as "Bro. Mike" or "Bro. Smith," while not addressing other men that way is using a title which means 'on the same level' to mean almost the opposite. About the only other times I have heard about where "Brother" is used as something like "first among equals" are a few stories of small churches who had someone, like a "senior deacon" who virtually "ran" everything; often running a new, usually young, pastor off in a short time because of the threat to his 'authority.' One case in particular, a well-known preacher told the story of a small church with "Brother John," the senior deacon who for 20 years ran every pastor off within 18 months, usually much less time. It's as if he were saying "I'm the real brother here!"
So all in all, titles of address do not mean very much. A Rev., in spite of the title, may be an excellent "servant leader," while a Bro. may be autocratic or incompetent.
