Pastoral Dress Code
Got a lot of flack about a recent twitter: ” A pastor in jeans is kinda immature” so I’m gonna do the smart thing and open up the convo some more.
Before I offend an entire legion of jeans-clad ministerium, I was raised in a culture which wore your Sunday best to church. For the last decade I’ve lived in a culture where jeans were almost a uniform. Let me just say it was liberating. But there was something about the suit and tie affair; not so much dignity, but it conveyed the passage from childhood to adulthood. So I guess that’s my question – and certainly not coming from a legalistic stiff – anyone who knows me knows that I don’t give a shit about “dignity” – but is there a way to be a pastor and convey edginess and verve without wearing an ugly pair of tattered jeans? Unless of course that is the dress code. Here is an inconsequential post about something inconsequential. Maybe what we really need is: Queer Eye for the Pastor-Guy. Now there’s a twitter to get everyone all riled up about.
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Hello Wayne!
This reminds me of a conversation I had with someone recently. This person was floored that I had preached in flip flops and a t-shirt before. This person was also raised in an environment where you wore your Sunday best to church and nothing less.
My official pastoral position on this is that I have no official pastoral position on this.
Sometimes I where jeans, sometimes cargo pants, sometimes slacks. Sometimes a t-shirt, sometimes a nice button up. Never a tie.
I figure I can where sandals because Jesus did. Also, God told Moses to remove his shoes and not to go and put on his Sunday best.
Bottom line though? I think as a pastor how you dress should correspond with the people that God has called you to shepard. If you are pastoring in a metropolitan area and ministering to business folks, they would probably laugh at my jeans and have a hard time taking me seriously. But if you are serving folks in the burbs that don’t identify with the business image, flip flops and a t-shirt might make them pretty comfortable with you.
There is my two cents, probably not worth that though.
Good luck with this one!
I think I get where you are coming from. If a pastor is trying to convey some sort of “vibe” by dressing like a “cool kid”, she may have some high school thing going on. If you need to rely on how you dress to connect with the people outside of churchtown, you might want to get out more.
personally, my church clothes rarely would impress someone. I’ll wear slacks if jeans offend, but I only have a couple of pairs of pants and have rotation going on for the work-week.
if its Sunday, I’m usually in a suit. I would never preach in jeans or shorts. I have yet to meet this illusory person who is put off by the wearing of a suit.
Something has gone wrong if the fashion style of the pastor is a point of contention. It seems like more important issues should take hold of our attention.
Yet….I got sucked in any way.
I have preached at a handful of churches. Some where a suit is the unwritten law of the land. My current church is in an urban neighborhood and I preached Sunday in “tattered jeans” (I wouldn’t call them ugly). You preach sermons in a way that reaches the audience, your dress should not be any different.
blue — I live in an urban neighborhood and have always gone to church in one until recently. Still always wore a suit.
Being a pastor, I don’t think using the word ‘shit’ is setting a good example.
I don’t really think it’s a good word for ANYONE to use really!
But I respect your teachings =]
God bless!
“edginess and verve”
I think that’s what we’re getting at.
How do we maintain that prophetic edge both within and reflected without?
Isn’t it a bigger matter than jeans?
Wayne – if we’re going for prophetic, then the last thing we need to do is be dressed for comfort or to place the people at ease. Prophets were notoriously untrendy and unconventional in their presentation, and for all the “jeans and gel” trendiness of today’s preachers, they are not at all unconventional. It may be that wearing a suit in a jeans and tshirt culture is actually MORE prophetic because it highlights that the message is serious. Of course we could go the robe and sandals route, or perhaps a hanbok.
I’m not offended by pastors preaching in jeans, but I’m horribly offended when they don’t wear socks and proper shoes, only flip flops no matter what the weather.
(:-), just wondering if Matt EHH is circling back around again after his first comment)
My dad just told me to trim the facial hair before I present myself before church people. He didn’t want me to look like a scruffy West-coaster