A comic strip we read recently showed a little boy asking help to tie his daddy's tie. Obviously, the tie was twice as long as the boy was tall. It's funny, though, the things we keep trapped in the recesses of memory.
You see, I used to wear my dad's ties to church. They had clip-on ties for boys, but most of the time I preferred one of my dad's. The only way for it to "fit" was to leave a verrrry long tail on the back side of it. Then I tucked the tail into my shirt. Practical!
Men wore dark suits and women wore nice dresses to church when I was growing up. They still do in some places around this nation, but not here. In fact, a man with a tie on in our church is usually there for the first time.
I'm the pastor and I wear a sports shirt and casual slacks. Some of you are from parts of the country where churchgoing is a bit more formal, so let me explain.
First, this is a pretty laid-back community. We're right on the border of California and influenced by their casual way of life. Most of the business people in this town wear more relaxed clothing. Many of the men I know rarely put a tie on for anything. Some don't even own one.
Second, many of the adults who attend our church have limited (if any) previous church background. Because we believe that Jesus demonstrated the value of meeting people where they were and communicating in a way they could understand, we think he would be dressing casually here, also.
I would be interested to know how people dress when they attend church in your town...
Before you leave me today, our Boston son-in-law started a new blog yesterday. I mention it because because Cathy and I think it's an absolute hoot!. If you have a few minutes, cruise on over there. Warning: it's probably addictive!
2 comments:
Our church is very similar to yours except that the pastor wears a casual shirt and jeans! Sometimes I'm just in the mood to wear a skirt or dress so I do. It's nice because I feel like I fit in, whether I'm wearing a skirt or jeans.
I got in the habit of not wearing shorts when I used to be on the worship team. The Engineer (my husband, the worship leader) said he didn't want the congregation looking at my legs when they should be worshipping. :-D
Our church is in a rural farm community, so the dress, while more casual than years before, is still pretty traditional. Not always ties, but Hubby wears at least a sport jacket, except in the very hottest months when he wears just a polo. Well actually he wears slack too. :)
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