Robes

Robes and collars were quite common in England, even among the Baptist Union. Things are a little different to-day, with fewer wearing collars.

In Canada, baptists used to wear tails and striped trousers instead of collars and gowns.

Cheers,

Jim

 

As a choir director, I liked robes because it provided a uniformity to the look it presented. And when we were going through the hot pants and mini-skirt craze of the 1970s, robes were a Godsend.

That was about the time we started being glad that women started wearing slacks.

 

No choir robes; and we don't even have a 'choir' every week; sometimes it's an ensemble of 4-6, sometimes only intruments, lyrics on the screen and a songleader. It seems those getting baptized still wore robes-- at least the females-- until a couple or so years ago. I don't remember anyone saying anything, but I have a hunch one (maybe "the") reason that stopped in favor of wearing these long dark brown shirts was because the steps out of the baptistry made the baptizee visible to about half the auaditorium, depending on gender, and as the females went up those steps, soaking wet, their panties could be seen rather easily through a white robe.

 

About clerical collars: my cousin was a seminary student in a Lutheran seminary, and was invited to come to my home town to preach. He wore his collar on the plane, and said that everyone addressed him as "Father."

Since this was just days before his first child was born, his reply was,
"Not quite"!

A couple of the people called into ministry from my congregation took to the collar for hospital visits, feeling that it gave them an identity in that setting. Not something I would have been comfortable doing.

 

I wear this on hospital visits- seems to get me past the receptionist much faster.

 

The only time I've ever worn a robe in the pulpit is when I've been invited to preach at churches where that is the tradition.

 

I was raised in the Methodist church and then, when I was a little older, attended my new step-father's Catholic Church.

Around that same time, my mother put me in an after school program at a local Baptist Church (I was probably around nine years old). Having come from the Catholic Church, I then mistakenly (albeit innocently) called a Baptist preacher "Father". I thought he was going to have a stroke. I don't think I've ever been yelled at like that before or since.

Now, every now and then, we'll have a Catholic visitor who will call me "Father". Of course, they don't recognize me, a non-Catholic, as a "Father", but I understand they're just trying to be polite. I always think of that experience from when I was a kid.

 

Ahhhhh yes. HMMMMMMM Wasnt that Judas that said that?:tonofbricks:

 

Jim, do you really mean robes (in the sense found at What does a Vicar Wear? with a cassock, surplice, stole or chasuble etc.)? If so, I must say that I have never seen such in use except in Anglican or Roman Catholic circles. Or are you just talking about preaching gowns and "back-to-front collars"?

Personally, I cannot see any scriptural basis for pastors/preachers wearing any kind of special "uniform" that sets them apart from other Christians. I have heard some people say that it helps when hospital visiting, but I have never found everyday clothes to be a problem in that.