I have heard that some people, when asking about your church will ask the following question, “what does your pastor wear to church?” The best answer is probably “underwear,” or if you want to get a little more specific, “socks”. (Sundays only, sometimes I come in wearing flip flops during the week.)
As fun as that answer is, it probably isn’t what they are really asking though. They are probably asking if your pastor wears skinny jeans and a sweet graphic tshirt with sequined crosses, or maybe a more “uppercrust Baptist/Methodist suit,” or the weird stuff that I wear on a given Sunday. I’ve already talked about my “blacks” and my collar (see here), but how about the stuff that I put on while I’m at church? and what about the stuff you’ve seen other pastors wear but that PJ doesn’t? Well, see below:
The Stole – The long piece of cloth that is worn hanging over the shoulders of the pastor. (see picture) The stole is a sign of the pastoral ministry. It is meant to be worn by anyone who is an ordained minister of the Gospel. It is supposed to symbolize the “yoke of ministry,” that Jesus talks about in Matthew 11. Normally it is colored to match the other things on the altar and help to show what time of the Church year we are in.
The Alb – This is the white “gown” that PJ wears. The message that it is supposed to send is that the pastor is covered up in God. It’s sort of like one of those cardboard cutouts where you stick your head through and someone takes your picture. You’re not covered up completely, but your face is really the only thing that shows, on purpose. The idea here is to reinforce the “in the stead” part of “in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all your sins…”
The Pectoral Cross – The Pectoral Cross is usually a larger cross on a longer chain that hangs at the pastors’ sternum (thus, pectoral). The message is probably pretty clear – it is the sign of the cross that is supposed to draw the eye, so that you remember what the message is all about, Jesus.
There are other things that other pastors wear. Some have meanings and others are little more functional, but they are all purposed to do one thing – to draw your eye at least partially away from the pastor and toward Christ. Like a well-shot photo, the thing that is focused should be Christ and the pastor should be a part of the blurry background. So this week when you come to worship, let this be a reminder to you to focus on the important person – Jesus Christ – and let the less important person get blurry in the background.