Clerical Vestments
The entire communication of the Liturgy for the worshipful life of any church centres on the Eucharist. Mass - The Lord's Supper - Holy Communion; whatever we feel comfortable to call it, this act of remembering our Lord Jesus Christ is the at the very depth, root and soul of our worship. How clergy dress is important for so many reasons. In our modern, secular world over-dressing (as a priest) is as important to consider as under-dressing. There must be a happy medium and we feel we have that. When we look at the picture above depicting the trial of Jesus we see the Pharisees, a Roman Centurian and the Christ Himself. What we can clearly see in this accurate interpretation of the clothing of the era, is how Christ is dressed is in stark contrast of the Pharisees and the Romans. On the left is a Roman Senator and more than likely how Pontius Pilate would have dressed. The style of clothing worn by those who put Christ to death has been responsible for moulding how Christian clergy dress today. There is more than an irony there and one we must deeply discern. Sadly, because of centuries of tradition, we have to accept it as today's norm. However, how we accept it, is key.
Humans are sensory beings. We see, touch, smell, hear and taste in order to fully experience the world around us. (When someone has one of their senses impaired, the others compensate). This is no different when we worship God. In order for us to fully appreciate the full mystery and beauty of Christian worship, our senses must be stimulated.
Vestments fall into this category if you think about it. Even when we are in an informal setting, we humans like to dress for the occasion. One would never weed the garden in a dinner jacket nor would we attend a wedding day dressed in old clothes we might use to decorate our houses. Humble but smart and clean clerical wear has great purpose, possibly more so today within our secular world than ever before.
Over the centuries this has been (arguably) abused by men dressing to glorify themselves - and not God. The responsibility of us all in our modern world is to be recognised for who we are but to remain dignified and accessible. How can we comfort people as successors to the Apostles who received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost if we avoid any easily recognisable and traditional wear associated with priesthood?
Some argue that any clerical wear is not needed. The Baptist Community have pastors who wear suits and ties but they nearly always carry a bible denoting their 'status', for want of a better word. However from a distance they look like business men and not ministers. As an ecumencial community, we embrace all Christian denominations, but if we did have one area of opposing opinion with others, it would be regarding the necessity of clerical wear.
A wee bit of history!
Skull caps. Men who were about to be ordained or received in monastic orders were required to have part of their head shaved. The process was called a tonsure. The purpose of the tonsure was to comply with 1 Corinthians 11:12-16, because during most of history, it was fashionable for men to have long hair. There are several different types of tonsures, most often it involved shaving the crown of the head. This requirement no longer exists in the Catholic Church, but it still does in Orthodox churches, though in some places the tonsure is minimal. The tonsure caused a problem for higher-ranking clergy, who again tended to be elderly, because it exposed their heads to the cold - those old medieval cathedrals were drafty, had no heat, and most often the doors stood open. However, the same passage from Paul implies that men shouldn’t wear head coverings in church. In the middle ages, headgear could be so complex that it was impractical for men to doff their hats, so they shoved them back to show respect.
Chasubles. A chasuble, called a phelonion in Orthodox churches today, is an ornate circular garment with a hole in the centre. It reaches to the wearer’s wrists, so that if the wearer holds both arms straight out, the chasuble forms a semi-circle when viewed from the front or the back. The chasuble is the descendant of a first-century paenula that was worn as a coat by both sexes. Today it is formally worn for solemnity. Chasubles are used in Lutheran churches as well as in Anglican and Roman Catholic churches.
The chasuble is always worn with a stole. The stole and chasuble combination is the first-century equivalent of wearing a necktie and jacket in today's world. It is widely considered appropriate to wear a chasuble in a service that does not include Communion but does it really matter? The Roman Empire had two modes of execution: non-citizens were thrown to wild animals, but citizens were beheaded with the sword. Therefore when Paul says that he escaped the lion’s mouth in 2 Timothy 4:17, he means he had successfully proved his Roman citizenship. In 2 Timothy 4:13, most translations vaguely refer to a garment or a cloak, but in the Greek, Paul asks Timothy to bring him the chasuble he had left behind in Troas. Since the chasuble was the mark of a Roman citizen, Paul apparently wanted to go out like one. Therefore, when the celebrant is dressed in a chasuble, he is dressed like a Christian martyr who is ready to have his head chopped off for Christ.
Albs. An alb, called a sticharion in Orthodox churches, is a plain, lightweight, ankle-length tunic with long sleeves. It is generally worn with a cincture around the waist. The word alb is short for the Latin phrase tunica alba, which means white tunic; accordingly, albs are usually made of white or undyed fabric. In the first century, the tunic was the first article of clothing that you put on in the morning. Working-class people wore knee-length tunics, while older people and people with less active occupations wore ankle-length tunics. It was possible to wear more than one tunic at a time for warmth, but it was considered improper to wear a tunic without a cincture. The tunic was originally sleeveless. Greeks and Romans thought sleeves were barbaric because barbarians wore them. (The barbarians lived in colder climates.) Tunics did not acquire sleeves until the third century, when a Roman Emperor came back from a military campaign wearing a tunic with sleeves—much to the horror of the slaves of fashion of the day. A modern alb has sleeves because of the need to cover personal clothing that also has sleeves.
Stole. A stole, called a epitrachilion in Orthodox churches, is a long, narrow rectangular garment that is worn around the neck so that it hangs down in front of the wearer’s legs, ending below the knees. The stole originated as a sort of kerchief. People used them as a general work cloth, for polishing things, and for wiping sweat from their faces. They came into the church, probably as a cloth that the celebrant could use to clean the Communion ware as part of the service, and for that reason, the stole became a Eucharistic garment.
Source - Ken Collins
There are many other vestments but very few of them are worn by ECC+C clergy and so not discussed.
To conclude, personal affiliations to traditional clerical wear must also incorporate one's conscience.
The only thing the ECC+C stipulates is that clergy are clean, tidy and appropriately dressed in accordance to the following:
The ECC+C has a policy of its clergy wearing an alb and stole for the sacraments and a smart clerical shirt with a traditional white collar at any other time. A cassock is the choice for some but cassocks are not vestments; they are traditionally an over garment to hide the character or personaility of the person via their own clothes. Cassocks may be worn as the principle choice of the priest and a stole and/or surplice must be worn in an official capacity.
Please note that in an emergency situation we accept the action of the sacrament is far more important than what is being worn. We do not insist our clergy wear vestments every day although many choose to - but even Christ needed to withdraw from the multitudes and spend time on His own now and again. The majority of us shun the use of ornate and overly embroidered chasubles and stoles. These are traditionally associated with 'men' of the cloth who perpetuate the granduer and sense of personal superiority associated with being a Roman Catholic or a High Anglican priest. We question the justification of not just the clerical outfitters who charge thousands of pounds for them but also the motivation of the clergy willing to pay for them.
ECC+C bishops who find the wearing of a cope and mitre unecessary to serve as an effective shepherd do not have to wear either - but we leave that decision to the conscience of the bishop concerned. The cope was introduced to keep the man warm - as most bishops were elderly and so serve no real purpose in terms of official use. Again, clerical robes served the same purpose and that is why we deem them unecessary but accept they are traditional wear to some. All ECC+C bishops can have a symbolic crook, a ring of the episcopate, a pectoral cross and can wear purple, but only if it is their choice to do so. (Please read the article on the mitre). Skull caps are also unecessary but traditional so again it is up to the choice of the potential wearer. We accept in all cases that tradition is important to some clergy.
Our deacons can dress in the same way as a priest bar one difference. For sacramental purposes, deacons will wear their stoles over one shoulder and not around their neck. Deacons can also wear a dalmatic if they choose to with their stole over or under it. Again we leave this entirely to the individual concerned.