Pastors: Dress for ministry

Lutheran, The, Oct 2001 by Weissenbuehler, Wayne

Since You Asked

Clergy clothes, biblical witness questioned

What has happened to the dress code of today's pastors? Many younger pastors dress so casual. I've seen a few making hospital calls in jeans and unkempt sport shirts. Where is the pride in the office in dressing that way?

Pastors are to "dress for success." Success for a pastor means the opportunity to minister to anyone in need of Christ's gifts of the word and sacraments. A pastor's clothes should not make it more difficult for others to receive ministry from him or her. There is no one kind of dress for all occasions and local customs, and particular situations often dictate what's appropriate. Good judgment and common sense should prevail. Today we all tend to dress more casually-pastors too.

When in doubt, I tend to overdress rather than the opposite. It shows respect for the office we're privileged to hold and for the people we're called to serve. I find myself wearing clerical clothing more often because it helps me focus on the pastoral vocation and provides access to more people. Strangers often approach me and ask for pastoral care. Clerical clothing invites and makes possible some significant ministry with folks.

But I've also been called to the hospital for an emergency while out mowing the lawn and no one cared at all about what I was wearing. May God give us all the grace to be slow to judge others in this matter of clerical dress.

Our church has had classes using the book, Honoring Our Neighbor's Faith, graphs from which say Lutherans "accept the Bible as the written witness to God's revelation of saving action through Jesus Christ." Why doesn't it say, "accepts the canonical Scripture of the Old and New Testament as the inspired word of God and the authoritative source and norm of its proclamation, faith and life," as stated in the ELCA's Statement of Faith?

Both statements accurately reflect the teaching of our church. We don't always have to say the same thing in the same way. The language used in our church's Statement of Faith is most appropriate for constitution use. The other phrase properly emphasizes the more dynamic center of the Scripture's purpose in the life of believers and the church, which is to witness to and create faith in Jesus Christ as Savior.

Readers are invited to send questions to "Since You Asked," The Lutheran, 8765 W. Higgins Rd., Chicago, IL 60631-4183. Space does not allow publication of all questions, but all receive serious consideration. The volume of letters makes personal replies impossible.

By: Wayne Weissenbuehler

Weissenbuehler is a pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, Englewood, Colo., and former bishop of the Rocky Mountain Synod.