30 April 2025

Wearing clerical robes is certainly convenient. I don’t have to think every Sunday morning, ‘What am I going to wear today.’ I put on my cassock and gown and think no more of it. It also answers another question which should concern us, ‘Are my clothes dignified enough to stand at the Holy Table to break the Bread of Life?’

Dignity is important in worship for at least two reasons. Firstly, our presentation as ordained ministers should not distract the worshipper from their worship of God.  Secondly, it should complement the sacred space, hallowed for centuries by the prayers, praises and personal sacrifices of God’s people in God’s house.

The appropriateness of the minister’s dress brings to the fore other concerns. There is the acknowledgement that the ordained minister is different from the congregation. They are not any better nor worse but they have a specific vocation to preach the Word and to celebrate the Sacraments. This should not be denied.

Their different vocation and their leadership in worship is marked out by the distinctive clothes which they wear. Paradoxically, this does not make them stand out personally. They are not wearing the latest Christmas jumper nor the flashiest dress shirt. They are wearing robes which are no different from any other minister.

In this they are a reminder of something much bigger than themselves. For in their dress, they modestly connect themselves and the congregation with a very long and distinctive history of the Church in Scotland. And  more. In wearing these robes, they are able to hide themselves.

Wearing clothes of our own choosing inevitably says something not about God but about us. We are formal, smart, colourful, fashionable, casual … In wearing robes common to everyone else, we hide our personality in black and use this external attire to focus the worshipper more directly on God.

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