What Should Clergy Wear?

There's an interesting discussion happening over on Church Leadership Conversations about "appropriate clergy fashions." It's interesting to me because the point of the conversation seems to make three-points:

• We project an image whether we think so or not.
• Trying to be "cool" is dumb, as "cool" changes so quickly.
• Hiring "fashion consultants" to figure out how to project an appropriate image for a particular group is a waste of resources.

Here's where I am with appropriate dress for anyone coming to Worship:

• If people want to wear their "Sunday Best" to worship because they believe that best honors God, I have no problem whatsoever with that . Just as long as their actions the rest of the week continue to reveal a "Sunday Best" lifestyle. If not, then let's not dress it up with "honoring God" language - "Sunday Best" clothing is nothing more than a white-washed tomb.
• If people simply want to be slobs in terms of style and hygiene because they don't care about themselves - I do have a problem with that, but it's because those folks need to learn what's good in them as the image of God. It grieves me when seem to hate themselves - and the image it projects is gut-wrenching to me.
• If people want to come "casual" to worship, I'm totally fine with that - just as long as they understand the Christian life is anything but casual. A life of discipleship is work, and the process of being more and more and more formed into the holy image of God in the likeness of our Lord Jesus is often painful.

So what's my dress-style? Business casual. It's about as fancy as I can get while still feeling that I'm not a complete fraud. Yet I do value being "presentable" to show that, (a) I do care enough about myself to give a rip what I look like and (b) so I'm not instantly written-off by people as a "kid." Business casual get's me "in the door," but it flexible enough that I can crawl around on the floor if I need to (this is a reality I learned working IT). It's a good thing - and if occasion warrants it I'll dress-up/down to fit the setting or occasion. No worries.

Now, if I were currently in a tradition in which the outfit of the clergy had any liturgical purpose I'd have absolutely no qualms "dressing the part" as that would be an integral part of the communication of worship. That's not where I'm currently sojourning, however, so I'm not going there at the moment.

Tags: clergy, dress-code