On Clerical Garb

Should pastors wear a robe and a clerical collar?  Should they wear khakis and a sport shirt?  What about jeans and a tee shirt?  Many have spent much time discussing this. 

Isn’t that kind of a funny question?  Of all the issues that we can talk about, how in the world can it matter how a pastor dresses?!?

But it does.  Mark Twain said, “Clothes make the man.  Naked people have little or no influence on society.”

What we wear shapes how people view us.  Whether or not that seems superficial, it is the reality.  It is also incarnational.

Here is the main principle:  we do not want to wear anything that gets in the way of the message we proclaim.  How we look should not impede people’s hearing of what we have to say.  We are representatives of Jesus, and we want to represent him as well as we can.

Shirts with Clerical Collars

I actually like clerical collar shirts. 

They tend to be slimming.

I quit wearing them ten years ago.  It seemed that they got in the way of people hearing what I had to say.  They put the wrong kind of distance between people and me.  My habit has become to wear button down shirts with a tie.  A mentor of mine once said, “If you want to be taken seriously, wear a shirt and tie.”  I do want to be taken seriously so I do.  Always.  Well, not during the summer months. 

A friend of mine wears a clerical collar shirt every day.  He says it is one less decision he has to make in the morning.

Other friends wear sport shirts.  For others their uniform dress is jeans and a tee shirt.  That strikes me as a little too casual for the important work we represent and carry out.  But that is not the question.

Here is the question:  what message do you want your attire to say about you and the work you do?  What you wear will say something.  Choose accordingly.

Robes for Worship

I experimented with not wearing a robe (alb) on Sundays.  Again, a number of my friends do not wear them.

It seems to me that a robe on Sunday morning puts the right kind of distance between people and me.  On Sunday in worship, I do not want them to hear from Dave; I want them to hear from Jesus.  Somehow the robe does that.  Sure they know it’s me under the robe, but visually the message is that something else, someone else is involved.  I wear a robe on Sundays.  Always.  Well, not during outdoor services in the middle of summer.

Here’s what solidified this practice for me.  One of our daughters was sworn in as a lawyer by a judge when she had passed the bar exam.  She had to be sworn in by a judge.  The judge seemed like a nice lady.  She was very cheerful and pleasant.  But she wore a robe.  The robe said something else (the Rule of Law), someone else (“Lady Justice”) was involved.  It might seem funny, but the presence of the robe upped the ante of the event.  The robe got us to a different place.

That’s what a robe can do for the pastor and the congregation on a Sunday morning.  We have upped the ante.  We are at a different place.  We are in the presence of God to hear his message of grace and mercy.

One More Thing

When I am not working, I dress how I please.  Casual.  Even a little sloppy sometimes.

In fact, as soon as I get home in the afternoon, even if I have to go back for a meeting in a matter of hours, I change into casual clothes.  I want to say to my family (and to me!) Dave/Dad is home.  I do not want to be pastor at home, so I dress accordingly.

So What to Wear…

These are the conclusions I have come to about what to wear.  You may come to other conclusions.

As you face the fashions of the day, the customs of the Church and the responsibilities of your Call, focus on the “why” more than the “what.”  Why you are wearing a particular item of clothing is more important what that particular item of clothing is. 

Choosing well is more significant than dressing well.