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Home , Cincture, Geneva gown, Maniple (vestment), Pallium, Stole (vestment), Surplice

CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY

The Eclipse of in 17th-Century Czechoslovakia MARIANKA SASHA FOUSEK

[he Martyrs of Christ - A Sketch of the Thought of Martin Luther on Martyrdom DOUGLAS C. STANGE

Lutheran and Protest Practices in the and Canada: A Survey ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN

Homiletics

Theological Observer

Book Review

Vol. xxxvn November 1966 No. 10 Lutheran and Protestant Vestment Practices In the United States and Canada: A Survey! ARTHUR CARL PIEPKORN

A. THE LUTHERAN TRADITION2 itself to what we know as the , he , sleeved and often sleeveless, never passed wholly out of use in the Tboth with and in the modified Lutheran . Neither did the . uncinctured form that gradually assimilated The has survived primarily, but not exclusively, as an episcopal vestment in 1 This study summarizes the detailed docu­ Scandinavia. The persisted in a sense mentation assembled in connection with the as the collar of the Swedish alb. The black production of an article on ", Ecclesi­ astical: Lutheran and Protestant" for the Encyclo­ , either with or with the "mill­ paedia Britannica. It covers the major traditions stone" type of collar (which still survives and church bodies of the Western tradition in parts of European Lutheranism), became (except the Roman Catholic and Protestant general as liturgical vesture only in the Episcopal Churches) in the United States and Canada. For the most part, it reflects the state­ 19th century. In parts of Scandinavia the ments made by persons whom the head of the black worn with the gown became church body in question had designated to pro­ a stylized appendage ( "black "). The vide the desired information. The originals of the communications herein referred to have (except at Loccum Abbey) and the been deposited in the Concordia Historical In­ seem to have gone out of use in stitute, 801 De Mun Avenue, St. Louis, Mo. the 16th century; the not later 63105. than the 17th, and the (and 2 On the Lutheran Church in general see Herman A. Preus, article "Vestments," in Julius ) in the late 18th or the early 19th Bodensieck, ed., The Encyclopedia of the Lu­ century. The stole passed out of general theran Church (Minneapolis: Augsburg Pub­ use by the 17th century, although here and lishing House, 1965), III, 2436-2439; Luther Dotterer Reed, W ors/Dip: A Study of Corporate there it may have survived into the 18th. Devotion (Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, Where mitre, maniple, dalmatic, tunicle, 1959), Ch.18; and Arthur Carl Piepkorn, The and stole are currently in use among Lu­ Survival of the Historic Vestments in the Lu­ theran Church after 1555, 2d ed. (St. Louis: therans, they are restorations, not survivals. School for Graduate Studies of Concordia Semi­ Successive waves of Lutheran immigrants nary, 1958). The latter work has been revised to North America brought with them the and expanded in the German translation by vestment practices with which they were Jobst Schone and Ernst Seybold, Die litur­ gischen Gewander in der lutherischen Kirche familiar in their homelands at the time of seit 1555 (Marburg-an-der-Lahn: bkumenischer their departure. They retained these prac­ Verlag R. F. Edel, 1965). The most recent dis­ tices with varying degrees of loyalty in cussion is that of Christian Vasterling, "Kirch­ licher 0 rnat oder biirgerliches Gewand? Er­ their New World environment. wagungen zur Amtstracht der lutherischen Geist­ The carefully cultivated and propagated lichen," Lutherische Monatshefte, 5 ( 1966) , 346-350. Vasterling is a in Hannover­ conviction of Pietism, of the Enlighten­ Mitdefeld, . ment, and of contemporary Protestantizing 645 646 VESTMENT PRACTICES

Lutherans that vestments are chiefly the at the minor services. A few wear inheritance of the Interims of 1548 and or , and some wear a surplice over that genuine Lutherans have always re­ a black preaching gown. Not more than jected them, is without foundation in his­ one clergyman out of 50 wears either full toric fact. If anything, the reverse is often Eucharistic vestments (sometimes without true; the traditional service vestments a maniple) or a combination of alb and tended to survive precisely in areas of the chasuble, but the number is growing.5 Lutheral! Church where the Interims had Street clothes are seldom worn for services; never been in force and they numbered formal morning wear is no longer in use. among their doughtiest defenders some of Clergymen formerly associated with the the most impeccably orthodox doctors of United Lutheran Church in America are the church of the Augsburg . most likely to wear the surplice-and-stole Specifically, there is no positive contem­ combination. Clergymen of that body and porary evidence that in the Lutheran com­ of the Augustana Evangelical Lutheran munity the stole was ever used prior to the Church are most likely to wear Eucharistic recent past apart from Eucharistic vest­ vestments; in isolated instances congrega­ ments with either an alb or a surplice or tions of Danish background were accus­ with a black gown for regular parochial tomed to the chasuble. In some congrega­ services in church.s tions of German background a sleeveless ("Saxon alb") is worn oVer the 1. The Lutheran Church m America 4 black gown at celebrations of the Holy Not more than a sixth of the wear . In some congregations of Slovak a black preaching gown for services. In background a lace surplice tied at the neck some cases they wear a stole with it; in with a bow is worn. Most clergy have little some churches of German or Slovak origin personal interest in vestments and merely the wear bands with the gown. In conform to the accepted practice. The a few instances a white preaching gown trend toward surplice-and-stole of the past replaces the black gown in hot weather half century and the present trend toward only. Clergymen rarely wear a doctor's Eucharistic vestments has resulted from gown, a master's gown not at all. Occa­ the work of a relatively small number of sionally academic hoods are worn either liturgically knowledgeable persons. with a doctor's gown or with a surplice and stole. Seventy to eighty percent of 5 The "Report on the Manifested Life of the Congregation for the Calendar Year Ending the clergy wear , surplice, and December 31, 1958" of the United Lutheran stole for all offices. A very small per­ Church in America contained the following centage of clergymen rightly omit the stole statistics: Berween 1941 and 1958 the number of pastors habitually officiating without any vestments declined from 491 to 123 3 Piepkorn, The Survival of the Historic (1.9%); the number wearing a black gown pp.119-120. Vestments, declined from 1,073 to 559 (14.5%) in the 4, Source of information: Letter of the Rev. same period; the number using black gown and Edgar S. Brown, Jr., Director, Commission on stole rose from 355 to 691 (18.0%); the num­ , Lutheran Church in America, New ber using cassock, surplice, and stole rose from York, which he describes as "my estimate of the 216 to 2,710 (70.3%); 69 used Eucharistic situation." vestments; 105 did not provide information. VESTMENT PRACTICES 647

A Statement on Vestments published by and Prince Alberts have completely disap­ The Commission on Worship of the Lu­ peared. Black are most likely to be theran Church in America in 1963 stresses worn in churches formerly associated with the principle of freedom combined with the United Evangelical Lutheran Church a voluntary concern for good order~ It and the Lutheran Free Church. The trend notes that cassock, surplice, and stole are of the past toward cassock, surplice, and "usual" but that there are congregations stole is turning into a trend toward the accustomed to alb and chasuble, to alb and use of alb and chasuble. stole, and to black gowns. Unordained as­ 3. The Lutheran Church-Missouri sistants are to conform to the vestments of those whom they assist, or they are to At the turn of the century, the normal in street ; they vestment use was black gown with bands, do not wear stoles. and organists and Friedrich Lochner despaired of the need wear no vestments if they sit in a rear possibility of restoring the alb or Eucharis­ gallery; otherwise they may wear black tic vestments.8 A few of the clergymen with white cottas (short sur­ who used the English language had begun, plices), but not colored cassocks, stoles, or as a part of their acculturation to the American scene, to conduct services in ad_.t' __ .:~ •. u of stoles. ~ ~ _____ . _~lOuld wear skull caps or Canterbury caps, but not street clothes or formal morning wear, mortarboards. A sexton may wear a cas­ Today possibly a fifth of the parish c: __ gy sock and cincture or a black gown.6 still wear black gowns, but almost invari­ ably without bands. Most common is the 2. The American Lutheran Church 7 combination derived largely by indirect The church has no authoritative state­ imitation from the Anglican custom of the ment on vestments. The accepted use is Victorian era - cassock, surplice, and stole. cassock, surplice, and stole, and the district No historic Lutheran justification exists for presidents generally recommend these. this combination as normal service vest­ The black gown has fallen almost com­ ments and a limited number of clergymen pletely into disuse. Where it survives, wear the alb or surplice without stole. Full neither bands nor stoles are worn with it. Eucharistic vestments, as well as the com­ Very rarely a white preaching gown is bination of alb and chasuble, have become used in hot weather. Academic gowns and sufficiently common and widespread that hoods are not worn. Alb and chasuble are they no longer evoke strong reactions, and worn in a few cases. Street clothes are not the number of that use them is­ habitually worn at divine service; cutaways especially in the eastern and middle west­ ern parts of the country - steadily though 6 Commission on Worship of rhe Lutheran Church in America, A Statement on Vestments 8 Friedrich Lochner, De,. Hauptgottesdienst (New York: Commission on Worship of the der Evangelisch-Lutherischen Kirche (St. Louis: Lutheran Church in America, 1963), pp.7-8. Concordia Publishing House, 1895), pp. 20 to 7 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. 21. American Lutherans, he argued, might Prof. Herman A. Preus, Luther Theological properly content themselves with the black Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota, who describes gown, "since even this vestment had become his statement as a summary of personal im­ a rarity in the land of Reformed sectarianism pressions. at rhe time OUf Synod was founded." 641l VESTMENT PRACTICES

not spectacularly increasing. The girdled vestment ( Chorrock, "rochet" or "sur­ alb without or with stole is occasionally plice") was in 1526. By 1537 the black used for non-Eucharistic services. Here and gown and cassock alone remained. In there an ordained officiant wears a black Geneva the ministers wore cassock, bands, scarf at the minor services. When more black gown, scarf or , and cap. In than one clergyman officiates at the Holy 1567 Theodore de Beze was unwilling to Eucharist, the and occa­ make an issue out of the gowns and vest­ sionally wear dalmatic and runicle, but a ments which the had to wear in surplice or alb, with or without stole, is England in spite of their strenuous objec­ more frequent. are sometimes worn tions. The black gown was worn in Scot­ for and solemn non-Eucharistic tish by 1574, and in 1610 King services. The Lutheran Church - Missouri James directed that ministers wear black Synod officially neither prescribes nor rec­ gowns in the .ll ommends any particular vestment or vest­ Twenty years ago Scott Brenner, the ment combination.9 American Presbyterian lirurgiologist. saw the beginning of a trend toward the use of B. THE PRESBYTERIAN AND REFORMED vestments in place of business , frock TRADITION coat, or even academic gowns, and noted Although Ulrich : discarded all that cassock, surplice, and stole and the clerical garb, the Reformed churches of traditional Eucharistic vestments were be­ Switzerland adopted the black gown as ing introduced in Reformed churches. He normal service vesture. On the European observed that the Puritans and Covenanters continent the linen collar worn by Re­ had Geen as hostile to the black gown as formed ministers around the neck grew to the traditional vestments. He set up first into a narrow ruff, then into the "mill­ stone" collar. With the general use of 11 William D. Maxwell, The Liturgical Por­ perukes, the bands replaced the ruffs, al­ tions of the Genevan Service Book Used by John Knox Wbile a Minister of the English though the use of bands before the era of Congregation of Marian Exiles at Geneva (Ed­ the peruke is amply documented.1O inburgh: Oliver and Boyd, 1931), pp.210 to At Strasbourg the last reference to any 213; Maxwell, An Outline of Christian W or­ ship: Its Development and Forms, 3d ed. (Lon­ don: Oxford University Press, 1945), p. 100. 9 For recent discussions of vestment practice Maxwell, a Scotsman, is one of the most distin­ bv clergymen of The Lutheran Church - Mis­ guished contemporary liturgiologists of the souri Synod see Paul H. D. Lang, Ceremony and Presbyterian and Reformed tradition. He recom­ Celebration (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing mends to his clerical co religionists that they House, 1965), pp.47-56, and Arthur Carl wear a long cassock, with either the Geneva Pieokorn. "What About Vestments for Pastors?" gown or an academic gown, the former with an CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY, XXX ecclesiastical cap, the latter with the cap (1959),482-493; 582-594. of their degree. An ordained minister may wear 10 Georg Rietschel, Lehrbuch der Liturgik, a scarf or tippet. With a scarf or tippet he may 2d edition by Paul Graff, I (Gottingen: Van­ wear a hood, but not a stole. A stole may be denhoeck & Ruprecht, 1951), 125; Graff, worn at , marriages, and Geschichte der Au/lO'sung det" alten gottesdienst­ in place of the scarf or tippet. Only an ordained lichen Formen in der ellangelischen IGrche minister may wear bands. (Maxwell, C oncern­ Deutschlands, 2 ed., I (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck ing Worship [London: Oxford University Press, & Ruprecht, 1937), 109. 1948J, Appendix B.) VESTMENT PRACTICES 649 three standards on which the whole church Reformed precedent for cassock, gown, and should be able to agree: First, that there be bands both on the street and in the pulpit.15 no compulsion in the matter of vestments 1. The United Presbyterian Church in and that those used be divested of all ficti­ the United States of America 16 tious sacramental and quasisacramental significance. Second, the prevailing or The majority of the clergy wear a black dominant color should be white. Third, gown when they conduct corporate wor­ there may be a diversity of vestment an­ ship, with a majority of those holding doc­ swering to the several heritages and tradi­ torates wearing the gown of their degree. tions in the church. He foresaw a time A considerable number wear white preach­ when in the church ecumenical it should ing gowns in hot weather. A substantial suffice for the minister to be clothed in and increasing number wear a clerical col­ a simple white gown like a primitive dal­ lar and bands. The influence of Eugene matic, or in cassock, surplice, and stole, or Carson Blake, until recently Stated Clerk in Eucharistic vestments.12 of the church, has been strong here. A small number, possibly 10 percent, sub­ Henry Sloane Coffin, another Presbyte­ stitute a black tippet or a stole, usually of rian, pointed out that sacerdotal vestments red or white, for the hood. A few wear have had no place in churches of the Re­ a stole of the proper seasonal color. Fewer formed tradition, but that the 400-year-old than 5 percent wear cassock, surplice, and custom of wearing a and stole. The number of ministers that wear bands - the uniform of the teacher, not a chasuble is negligible, but the fact that the - is a venerable one that ought there are any at all and that they are all to be honored.13 young men is worthy of notice. About Ilion T. Jones, a liturgical conservative half the clergy wear business . This is in American , rejects the especially common in the Middle West. academic hood as peculiarly unfitted for Only a very few of the older clergy wear ministerial attire. He concedes that a sim­ formal dress such as cutaways. Vestment ple black gown may serve a useful purpose patterns do not reflect former affiliation but insists that any vestment in the techni­ prior to the union of the Presbyterian cal sense is out of place in Reformed worship.14 Howard G. Hageman sees good at Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, writing in his The Church at Worship (Grand Rapids, Mich.: 12 Scott Francis Brenner, The Way of Wor­ Baker Book House, 1962) for a conservative shiP: A Study in Ecumenical Recovery (New Protestant readership, urges that when the min­ York: The Macmillan Co., 1944), pp.110 to ister conducts services he dress conservatively 115. See also his The Art of Worship (New in a ministerial or in a dark (rather than York: The Macmillan Co., 1961), pp. 67-72. a light) suit. (P. 37) 13 Henry Sloane Coffin, The Public Worship 15 Howard G. Hageman, Pulpit and Table: of : A Source Book (Philadelphia: The Some Chapters in the History of Worship in Westminster Press, 1946), pp.62-63. the Reformed Churches (Richmond, Va.: John 14 Ilion T. Jones, A Historical Approach to Knox Press, 1962), p.131. Evangelical Worship (New York: Abingdon 16 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. Press, 1954), pp.239-240. More recently, Scott Brenner, Board of Christian Education of Bernard Schalm, head of the New Testament the United Presbyterian Church in the United department of the Christian Training Institute States of America, Philadelphia, Pa. 650 VESTMENT PRACTICES

Church 10 the U. S. A. with the United Northeast, where the bulk of the churches Presbyterian Church. Rural congregations trace their history to colonial foundations still tend to shun vestments; city and sub­ sponsored by the established church of the urban congregations are making increasing Netherlands. In the Midwest, where many use of them. of the congregations were founded by a group that left the Netherlands in protest 2. The Presbyterian Church in against the established church, the gown is the United States 17 viewed with suspicion, although practice is Vestments at divine service are left en­ divided and the prejudice against the gown tirely to the discretion of the individual is slowly breaking down, especially in ur­ minister. In the last three decades the num­ ban areas. ber wearing a black Geneva gown in the The smaller Reformed bodies quite con­ pulpit has increased to a point where this sistently dispense with the gown, although is the service garb of possibly a majority of in the Christian Reformed Church a few ministers. exceptions have reportedly begun to

3. The Reforrned Chtt1'ch i '.merica 18 appear. In general, the situation with reference There is no church legislation regarding ~;:; ve nt F".::dce __ very 3.uid. vestments. The classic black gown with cassock (or cassock front) has persisted as C. UNITED Al",D UNITING CH"l ~LHES the use of many congregations. Bands are 1. The 19 most often worn with it. Many holders of wear academic gowns. The use The church has no official position and of academic hoods with both pulpit and makes no recommendations. The fear of academic gowns is quite common, espe­ sacerdotalism is strong. The Reformed cially on such occasions as ordinations. background of this body has made the Occasionally the tippet or scarf is still used. Geneva gown the rule, and alternatives are Many younger clergymen wear colored the exception. Older pastors continue to stoles with the black gown. A few minis­ wear bands with their gowns. In hot ters wear , especially for the Eu­ weather a white preaching gown is some­ times used, or, more frequently, services charist; Eucharistic vestments are not in are conducted without a gown. Doctoral use. Where vestments are not worn, a sim­ gowns (or Geneva gowns modified by the ple dark business suit serves. The use of addition of stripes and facings) are usually formal dress, such as cutaways or Prince worn by most holders of doctorates. Aca­ Alberts, is fast disappearing. The use of demic hoods are frequently worn, especially gown and bands is more common in the by those with doctor's degrees. Apparencly

17 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. clergymen out of the Congregationalist James A. Millard, Jr., Stated Clerk of the Gen­ tradition are more likely to wear hoods. eral Assembly, The Presbyterian Church in the A very few pastors, chiefly of German United States, Atlanta, Ga. 18 Source of information: Letter of Dr. 19 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. Howard G. Hageman, 510 Broad Street, New­ Prof. Walter H. Krebs, Eden Theological Semi­ ark, N.]. nary, Webster Groves, Mo. VESTMENT PRACTICES 651

Reformed background, wear surplices; "while still the specifically Christian vest­ most of them minister in Pennsylvania, the ments were abjured." 21 He regards it as home of the ecumenical-liturgical "Mer­ "one of the most unfortunate vagaries of cersburg tradition" of Philip Schaff and the Protestant reaction . . . that black be­ John W. Nevin. Among younger pastors came standard for the clergy and black the wearing of stoles in the color of the only." Even where the Prince Albert or season is a growing practice; this is the business suit has yielded to a robe, it is most notable development in this area of "only to one of lugubrious, funereal ap­ worship to occur in the last generation. pearance." While the "bright bits of col­ Those who wear surplices generally wear ored velvet and silk" of academic and stoles as well. Eucharistic vestments are hoods improve the situation somewhat, not worn. "the church is not a university and the minister in its services should wear not 2. The 20 professional but churchly garments." 22 The ministers conform almost entirely to the practices of the Pesbyterian or Re­ 1. The Methodist Church 23 formed churches in Scotland and the In large sections of the church, ministers United States and wear a black Geneva wear no vestments; a dark business suit or gown, usually over a short or long black dress suit with a dark: tie is generally ac­ cassock, with bands. A number wear a cepted. In some parts of the South the preaching scarf, embroidered with a morning coat with striped trousers is worn or Celtic cross. A very small number wear on Sunday morning. A majority of min­ stoles in the color of the season. Ministers isters currently wear a Geneva gown, customarily prefer to omit academic hoods mostly without stoles, although the prac­ when presiding over or taking part in an tice of wearing a stole in the color of the act of worship. A very small number wear season is increasingly common. Some min­ surplices, none wear Eucharistic vestments. isters wear academic gowns with academic In view of the discussions of union with hoods. the Anglican Church of Canada, some min­ Although the early American Methodists isters may feel that they should anticipate followed J ohn Wesley in wearing cassock, the union by modifying their vestment surplice, and stole, pioneer conditions and practices, but this has not as yet happened. post-Revolution prejudice against things Anglican resulted in the early disuse of D. THE METHODIST TRADITION

One of the leading exponents of liturgi­ 21 George Hedley, Christian Worship: Some cal worship in American is Meanings and Means (New York: The Macmil­ lan Co., 1953), pp.26--27. George Hedley. He deplores vesting the "while leaving the first minister in 22 Pp.67-68. secular garb," and criticizes the attitude 23 Source of information in the first para­ graph is a letter of Lance Webb, Illinois that regards academic robes as permissible, Area of the Methodist Church, Springfield, Ill. Information in the remainder of this section is 20 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. contained in communications from the Rev. Ernest E. Long, D. D., LL. D., secretary of the Romey P. Marshall, President of The Methodist United Church of Canada, Toronto, Onto Order of St. Luke, Summerdale, Pa. 652 VESTMENT PRACTICES these vestments. Bands are now rarely tremes but does not forbid the freedom of worn. \J(!hite preaching gowns are becom­ personal choice. Ministers with academic ing popular in the South, especially in degrees most often wear their academic Florida; stoles are sometimes worn with gowns, generally with their hoods, while them. Academic gowns seem to be losing others usually wear black pulpit gowns. in popularity, and the use of academic One out of 10 ministers wears a surplice. hoods is also on the decrease. Street clothes Stoles and Eucharistic vestments are not are more likely to be worn in small rural used. Street clothes are seldom worn in churches and in resort-area churches. The the conduct of services. use of formal dress is declining rapidly. Except among members of the Order of 3. The African Methodist Episcopal St. Luke, surplices are almost unknown. Zion Church 25 Stoles are becoming more commonplace Ministers normally wear pulpit gowns; in the North and East and in some south­ a few older ministers wear cutaways and ern conferences; while seasonal colors are Prince Alberts. Ministers with academic de­ used, a single color - red, white, or green grees wear their hoods at some services, - is frequently used throughout the year. especially at the Sunday morning services A few ministers wear a stole for weddings of the annual conference, the General Con­ only. ~ucharistic vestments are almost ference, and national gatherings. At the never worn. tend to wear white service for bishops, the candi­ stoles over black gowns, the latter some­ dates wear robes, stoles, and hoods. For times embroidered on the left breast with and funerals, the minister wears an emblem denoting the episcopate, but the same vestments that he lises at Sunday many wear a insert under their morning services; at weddings he may wear clerical collars to identify their status. a white surplice. The trend of the last two Seminary training, the heterogeneous de­ decades has been toward greater formality. nominational background of recently or­ ganized suburban churches, higher socio­ 4. The Evangelical United Brethren economic status, and the existence of vested Church 26 choirs are all factors inclining toward the The church neither recommends nor use of gowns and vestments. If present forbids the use of vestments. The last trends continue, cassocks and surplices may decade has seen a considerable increase of well be normal at Methodist in the use of the black pulpit gown, and it is another decade. now worn in nearly half the churches. White preaching gowns are rare; usually 2. The African Methodist Episcopal Church 24 25 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. Arthur Marshall, Jr., minister, Metropolitan The church does not prohibit or pre­ African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, St. scribe any vestments. It discourages ex- Louis, Mo. 26 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. 24 Source of information: Letter of Senior John H. Ness, Jr., secretary-curator, The His­ Bishop Sherman L. Greene, 1105 Fountain torical Society of the Evangelical United Breth­ Drive, S. W., Atlanta, Ga. ren Church, 1033 Yorkshire Place, Day ton, Ohio. VESTMENT PRACTICES 653

no gown is worn when the weather be­ who hold doctorates use their academic comes too warm. Ministers who wear gowns, but not their hoods, when coo­ gowns and who hold academic degrees will ducting services. Cutaways and Prince Al­ usually wear academic gowns or the mark­ berts, fairly common 50 years ago, are ings of the wearer's degree on their pulpit hardly used anymore. As many as three­ gowns. Academic hoods are worn by very fourths of the ministers use a black gown few ministers and then only on special for baptisms. Robes - sometimes quite occasions. Since 1960 a small minority of elaborate - are worn by choirs and organ­ younger ministers recently graduated from ists in 9 out of 10 churches. A continuing the seminary wear stoles in the color of the trend toward wearing more formal attire season. Surplices are not worn, nor are dates back about a generation and reflects cutaways or Prince Alberts. East of the the culturally upward mobility of Southern Mississippi river, where , practice, and the impact of the ecumenical and outlook are more liberal, where the movement. church is 100 to 175 years old, and where 2. The Americtm Baptist Corwention 28 individual congregations are larger, gowns are worn in more than half the churches. The last 10 or 20 years have seen a West of the Mississippi, where the church shift in the direction of wider use of the is younger and the congregations are pulpit gown, along with a thrust in the smaller and more conservative, a modest direction of a more formal order of wor­ minority wears them. Urban congregations ship and greater emphasis on prayer and tend to accept vestments more readily than meditation. While one out of four minis­ do rural congregations. Seminary training ters wore cutaways in conducting worship in the case of the minister and a higher services in the early 1950s, today few cuta­ socioeconomic status in the case of the ways are worn, but the same ratio of one congregation predispose toward the use of out of four ministers - most often in city gowns and stoles. churches - wears black pulpit gowns. The E. THE BAPTIST TRADITION majority of ministers continue to use busi­ 1. The Southern Baptist 27 ness suits for regular worship services. Only one out of 20 wears an academic The convention does not prescribe, pro­ 29 hibit, or recommend vestments. The black hood with it. Approximately half the pulpit gown is worn rarely and never with ministers use a gown for baptisms. bands. It is largely confined to North 28 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. Carolina and Virginia churches, frequently Leon R. Robinson, Jr., minister, Second Baptist suburban ones, with members of higher Church, St. Louis, Mo. socioeconomic status and more highly edu­ 29 In his statement on the Baptists in the cated ministers. White preaching gowns section on "Elements of " in Pehr Edwall and others (eds.), Ways 0/ Worship (New are almost never used. A few ministers York: Harper & Brothers, 1951), R. Claibourne Johnson describes a metropolitan Baptist church 27 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. in a residential area in which "the ministers Prof. Penrose St. Amant, Dean of the School of wear Geneva gowns or academic robes which Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological indicate a preaching rather than a priestly func­ Seminary, Lexington, Ky. tion" (p. 145). 654 VESTMENT PRACTICES

3. The American Baptist Association 30 2. The Churches of Christ 88 The ministers of this body wear business No vestments of any kind are used. suits when they conduct services. Some of G. OTHER DENOMINATIONS the churches use choir and baptismal robes. 1. The Moravian Church (Unitas 4. The National Baptist Conventions 31 Fratrum) 34 Most ministers wear business suits when The practice of this church is not uni­ they conduct services. A very few older form; some ministers wear gowns, some ministers wear cutaways or Prince Alberts. do not. Hoods are not usually worn with Some wear pulpit gowns and academic gowns, although occasionally (at hoods. Baptismal gowns are widely worn services, for instance) hoods may be worn. for baptisms. Business suits and formal attire are used as F. THE "CHRISTIAN" (RESTORATION) individual ministers prefer. Surplices are TRADITION worn for baptisms and the Lord's Supper (as the Book of Order directs) and occa­ 1. The Disciples of Christ 32 sionally for weddings. Bishops of the Vni­ Business suits are the normal service at­ tas Fratrum do not wear distinctive vest­ tire. Prince Alberts, cutaways, and similar ments. The increasing use of pulpit gowns formal attire are seldom, if ever, used. Aca­ has been the most notable trend of the past demic and preaching gowns are being used few decades. increasingly for and for weddings. Academic hoods are quite com­ 2. National Holiness Association mon accompaniments of gowns, and a few Ministers of the church bodies that be­ ministers are using stoles. The past decade long to the National Holiness Associa­ and a half has been marked by a continuing tion 35 (including the Church of the Naza­ trend in the direction of more formal pul­ rene 36), of the Assemblies of GOd,37 and pit attire, largely through the impact of 33 Source of information: Letter of Mr. B. the . A 3-year study C. Goodpasture, ed., The Advocate, currently going on is focusing attention on Nashville, Tenn. contemporary developments in liturgy and 34 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. it would not be surprising if this resulted Vernon W. Couillard, Moravian Theological Seminary, Bethlehem, Pa. in more carefully designed worship services 35 Source of information: Letter of Dr. Rich­ and the wider use of vestments. ard S. Taylor, associate professor of theology and mISSIons, Nazarene Theological Seminary, 30 Source of information: Letter of Dr. Paul City, Mo. Goodwin, Past President, American Baptist As­ 36 Source of information: letter of Dr. Edgar sociation, 4 Valley Drive, Little Rock, Ark. B. Johnson, general secretary, Church of the 31 Source of information: The Rev. W. Nazarene, Kansas City, Mo., who speaks of an D. Thompson, Jr., 4015 Fair Avenue, St. Louis, "unwritten law" having the effect of prohibiting Mo. 63115. gowns and other vestments.

32 Source of information: Letter of Dr. Mer­ 37 Source of information: Letter of the Rev. rill 1. Cadwell, director of church life and wor­ Thomas F. Zimmerman, general superintendent, ship, The United Christian Missionary Society, General Council of the Assemblies of God, Indianapolis, Ind. Springfield, Mo. VESTMENT PRACTICES 655 of Pentecostal churches,38 as well as the 3. Unitarian-Universalist Association first and second readers in the branches of A majority of Unitarian-Universalist the Church of Christ, Scientist,39 and min­ Association 41 ministers wear academic isters of the Church of Christ of gowns when they conduct services. On Latter-day Saints 40 do not use vestments or major holidays, hoods are generally added. robes in the conduct of services, but wear A very few, largely because they are located only business suits. in parishes with a long history (such as 38 Source of information: The Rev. Lester King's , Boston) or because of the E. Shockley, 4 Santa Cruz, Florissant, Mo. backgrounds from which they themselves 89 Source of information: Mr. Elgin Was­ have come, wear vestments complete with son, St. Louis, Missouri, State of Missouri Com­ surplices and stoles. mittee on Publication, The First Church of Christ, Scientist. St. Louis, Mo. 40 Soutce of information: Letter of Mr. Theodore 1. Cannon, Church Information Ser­ 41 Source of information: The Rev. Thad­ vice, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day deus B. Clark, minister, First Unitarian Church, Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. St. Louis, Mo.