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“None of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord” (Romans 14:7,8). Read how pastors live for the Lord in the choices they make about their worship attire.
Why does your pastor wear what he wears? Have you ever asked him?
Suiting up in the South
“Our ministry context here in Chattanooga played a large part in any decisions we made for our ministry, including what we thought the pastor should wear on Sundays,” explains Eric Melso, a home missionary serving Living Hope, Chattanooga, Tenn. “We had the blessing of getting to lay the groundwork for our church plant for about seven months before we started holding public worship services. During that time, we tried to gather as much information about our community as possible. It ended up being about 8 out of 10 people didn’t know anything about Lutherans at all.”
Since people in the Chattanooga area seemed to be overwhelmingly unfamiliar with Lutheran worship and preaching, Melso says that Living Hope began to look for ways it could keep that special distinction that set it apart from every other church in its heavily churched area. How could it meet the bulk of its audience where it is at so the people aren’t overwhelmed by the different style of Lutheran worship?
“The biggest takeaway we had [from visiting local churches] was that our message was so much clearer and scriptural than what we were hearing in other local churches,” says Melso. “So, we wanted the message to shine out brightest and be willing to put away other side ‘things’ that could be obstacles to that message. We also wanted to keep our rich Lutheran liturgy since it would be such a nice contrast to the often-chaotic order of service we came across in most other churches. We also wanted to primarily sing hymns from our rich, Lutheran heritage of hymnology, with a few more modern songs/hymns sprinkled in. Of all the important messages we wanted to send with our worship, what the pastor wore was one of the things that we felt would be pretty easy to trim down for less of a ‘shock factor’ to those new to Lutheranism. So, after lots of discussion with the core group, I chose to wear a suit and tie for leading worship. By the time we came to that conclusion, it just made sense. Everyone was okay with it, and the feedback we’ve gotten from our members who didn’t come from Lutheranism backs that up.”
Donning vestments in California
“I approach what I wear as a pastor similar to how we all do on a daily basis—the setting and occasion dictate it,” says Noah Bater, pastor at Prince of Peace, Thousand Oaks, Calif. “Think of the most important events in a person’s life—a wedding, graduation, prom, funeral, etc. Those occasions dictate what you will wear. The event is special; the people you’re with are special; the occasion you’re celebrating is special. It only makes sense that what you wear would also be special. With this in mind, I wear the traditional Lutheran vestments of cassock, surplice, and chasuble [see photo below] on Sunday morning during the divine service.”
Bater explains that the chasuble is worn by the pastor exclusively during the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. “As such, the beautiful adornments and colors of the chasuble remind us of the beautiful invitation we receive when Christ calls us to his Table. If it is fitting to dress up for a wedding or a fancy meal, how much more so as the pastor who is called to distribute the meal that foreshadows the wedding supper of the Lamb.”
He continues, “On Sunday morning during the divine service, I am the voice of Jesus calling out to his sheep. I am his under-shepherd called to feed his flock. I am the one standing in the stead of Christ announcing his forgiveness. I am the one entrusted with the mysteries of God. All of this seems to clearly lend itself to dressing and looking different than every other man on Sunday morning. Numerous people have commented on how much they appreciate the reverence shown in what I wear, which, from their perspective, is seemingly rare in Christian worship.”
Finally, notes Bater, “The divine service is not just another hour of my week. It is the single greatest hour of my week, where heaven and earth come crashing together and we stand in the presence of the Almighty. The divine service is not another extension of my life. It is life itself, as the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life comes to be near us in Word and sacrament. There is no higher occasion than that; I try to dress accordingly.”
Considering context in North Carolina
“Freedom filtered through context helps determine what I wear on a Sunday morning,” says Douglas Van Sice, home missionary at Huntersville Lutheran, Huntersville, N.C. “A few years ago, we had this lovely couple from Milwaukee join us for worship. After the service, I went up to introduce myself to them. Before I could utter the first syllable of my name, the husband said, ‘Is this what you always wear when preaching? Our pastor always wears a robe.’ Translation: ‘You aren’t dressed properly for the work you are doing.’ I was a bit shocked. I didn’t think I was dressed badly. I had a white shirt, blue and pink rep tie, blue dress pants, a light brown blazer, and brown shoes. For that brother in Christ, the context to which he was accustomed led him to see me as dressed too informally. For me, in the context of our musty, dusty rental space and 98-degree North Carolina heat with a quasi-functioning air conditioner, that was plenty formal.”
Van Sice explains that his congregation currently worships in a repurposed cotton mill built in the late 19th century. As he notes, “When we first moved into that space in 2020, I asked two people I trust—my wife and board president—to come to the space and give their honest feedback about me wearing an alb and stole on Sunday mornings. They agreed. I put it on and stood in the place where I’d normally preach. After about 30 seconds of awkward staring and quiet whispers, they had reached their conclusion. An alb and stole looked and felt out of place.”
The congregation, by God’s grace, started construction on a brand-new church facility in October. Says Van Sice, “In the sanctuary of our new building—a room we designed for the proclamation of the gospel and the administration of the sacraments—wearing an alb and stole will fit the context of that space better than dress pants and a button-up.
“For me, the decision to wear or not wear an alb and stole on a Sunday morning has nothing to do with trying to be relevant, hip, attractive, or cool. It has everything to do with our worship space and creating as much of a distraction-free atmosphere in which the gospel is proclaimed. Freedom filtered through context is what continues to drive my decisions about pastoral dress.”
Letting the gospel shine everywhere
The pastors featured here all carefully consider what they wear as they carry out their ministries, even as they make different choices. Melso emphasized, “I want to respect the choices any of our WELS pastors make when it comes to the attire they choose to wear for worship. God can certainly get across his amazing grace to lost souls no matter what the preacher is wearing and even in spite of what the preacher is wearing. I feel good about what we’ve chosen to do. It was a decision made with lots of thought and discussion about what would best let the gospel shine out to the people we meet in Chattanooga.”
So if you wonder why a pastor wears a particular type of worship attire, ask him. The answer is likely to reveal much about him and his ministry.
What about the collar?
I wear a round clerical collar so that people see me as pastor first and everything else second. My race, my gender, my age—all of this takes a back seat. This has broken down barriers and opened up many opportunities to share the gospel with people I otherwise may have not be able to reach.
On one occasion I was driving into the University of Minnesota hospital complex when I was stopped by a student worker whose job was to give drivers directions. He was Muslim. Before he passed me through to talk to the next driver, he asked me a very pointed question about Christian theology. He wanted to know how we could believe that God would become human through a virgin birth. I gave him my best ten-second answer. He wouldn’t have asked me that if I was wearing any other outfit. The examples are endless.
It may be that some are put off by this, but that is true of every style. The pastor in an Armani suit can come off as greedy. The pastor trying to be cool may come off as fake. The guy in khakis might look like he is selling insurance! We cannot change people’s first impressions; we can only teach. I find the clerical collar useful because no matter what people are thinking (negative or positive), they are not thinking about me but about the church, Christianity, and ultimately Christ. These are priceless opportunities to make connections to the people around us.
Michael Berg, Wisconsin Lutheran College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Did you know?
The white robe that some WELS pastors wear is known as an alb, and the decorative scarf is known as a stole. These vestments trace their history back to fifth-century Christianity and have been worn by many confessional Lutheran pastors throughout the Lutheran church’s 500-year history. However, WELS pastors only began wearing them regularly in the early 1990s. Before that, WELS pastors mainly wore black robes referred to as academic gowns or Geneva gowns. Pictured here are gospel workers who serve Native American Christians wearing a variety of worship attire, including Geneva gowns, albs, and stoles.
Author: Nicole Balza
Volume 111, Number 11
Issue: November 2024
- Free in Christ: Worship
- Free in Christ: Stewardship of time and talents
- Free in Christ: Vestments and other worship attire
- Free in Christ: Personal offerings
- Free in Christ: Use of property
