A good soul asked me directly recently, “Why do you wear a suit on Sundays?” Folks have mentioned my suit wearing Sunday habit in both positive and (gently) negative terms since our arrival in August. I think my casual dress for the chat with the good soul necessitated the straightforward query—she was surprised to see me without a tie.
A former staff member said that I send mixed signals with my dichotomous dressing. I dress very informally during the week. Jeans or shorts (when warm enough), polo or t-shirts, tennis shoes or sandals are the norm for me at church or about Waco, Monday through Saturday. Sunday mornings however, I dress up.
So, why do I dress up on Sunday mornings? It is what I am used to but that’s not the reason. I grew up in a traditional First Baptist church where suits and dresses were the norm. First Trenton, however, was very much come as you were. We had folks in beautiful traditional African apparel; we had folks in jeans and flip-flops (weather permitting of course); we had folks in between. It was all great. For the record, I don’t care what you wear to church, just that you come expecting to encounter God. You can do that in a suit, dress, shorts or whatever.
A funny story about the dress code at First Trenton: when Julie and I graduated from Princeton Theological Seminary in the spring of 1998, the church gave us both healthy gift certificates to a clergy supply store. The certificates were accompanied by the admonition to buy clerical robes. We did and I wore it the first Sunday that it arrived. There so many positive comments that it became clear that the gift certificates were subtle ways for them to tell us that they preferred robed clergy. So, for 11 years, except in the un-air conditioned humidity of June through August, I robed. I still have it in a closet in my office here; I’ll break it out at some point.
Back to the subject at hand, I dress formally because I consider it a privilege to stand before those gathered and espouse the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a blessing and a gift that I get to do this. I never want to forget that and have Sunday mornings become a routine or something mundane. I dress formally to remind myself of the trust, responsibility and honor to stand behind the pulpit of Calvary Baptist Church and talk about what God is doing, has done and promises to do. Because I consider this opportunity special, I dress for the occasion.
I won’t wear a suit every Sunday, and will probably dress more business casual during the summer. But, when you see me in a suit, this is why.
