What NOT to Do in Church

[Imalive]

Respect for whom? God sees me when I'm in the shower and when I'm using the bathroom. Dressing up doesn't impress God. If I'm dressing to impress other people my heart is in the wrong place before I even begin. And if we try to enforce a dress code how are we ever going to reach the people who aren't going to dress up? Jesus didn't say to organise a frightfully middle class club that shuts people out because they are comfortable in a tank top and shorts, he said to go into the world and preach the gospel.

One thing I personally find encouraging is when I see a church with a sign that says "come, just as you are". We're better off helping people become pure on the inside, than fussing about their external presentation.

For new ppl it doesn't matter how they're dressed.
In my first pentecostal church they were so insane extreme. A guy who did the worship was so happy he found God, a year later I met him. He left church because he could not lead the worship w out wearing a tie. A suit was not enough. Put off your jacket when it was hot was forbidden. When I came there I walked around in my brothers pants. My, the comments I got in the preaching. He kept saying we had to wear a dress and I had to borrow one from my mom cause I had no dress and I looked like an old cow w 16. If it's so important that ppl leave church for a freakin tie something's wrong.

 

[hotrhymez]

dont fart

 

[MoreCoffee]

dont fart

:smirk:

 

[Albion]

My question was asking if Albion has some reason to claim he was a Catholic longer than I have been a Catholic.

Absolutely. You may be forgetting that you previously posted the story of your denomination-hopping. Not that that's something to be criticized for, but it's not a secret either.

 

[Imalive]

Why denom hop if yo own denom has enough churches to hop to?
Hahahahaha we once started a church and ppl came from another church and one guy didnt know i was dating my ex so he says to me: watch out w him, he steals sheep!!
Steals sheep! LOL I couldnt stop laughing. They hopped to another church a few months later. Actually I thought only evangelicals church hopped.

 

[Confessional Lutheran]

dont fart

At least, try not to fart at the Communion Rail ( if the church you visit offers open communion).

 

[MoreCoffee]

Absolutely. You may be forgetting that you previously posted the story of your denomination-hopping. Not that that's something to be criticized for, but it's not a secret either.

So how long have I been a Catholic?

 

[Albion]

Why denom hop if yo own denom has enough churches to hop to?
Hahahahaha we once started a church and ppl came from another church and one guy didnt know i was dating my ex so he says to me: watch out w him, he steals sheep!!
Steals sheep! LOL I couldnt stop laughing. They hopped to another church a few months later. Actually I thought only evangelicals church hopped.

For what its worth, that term refers to changing denominations, not merely to changing from one congregation of the same denomination to another. Indeed, the term that's usually used is "church hopping," but I thought that might be misinterpreted.

 

[MoreCoffee]

Why denom hop if yo own denom has enough churches to hop to?
Hahahahaha we once started a church and ppl came from another church and one guy didnt know i was dating my ex so he says to me: watch out w him, he steals sheep!!
Steals sheep! LOL I couldnt stop laughing. They hopped to another church a few months later. Actually I thought only evangelicals church hopped.

I don't church hop now. I learned my lessons. Protestant and Pentecostal groups are not the answer. I am happy in the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church Even if some folk call her Roman Catholic

 

[Albion]

Actually, no one is church hopping between hops, are they? Each time they hope and believe that they've "found it (the right denomination) at last!"

 

[MoreCoffee]

Actually, no one is church hopping between hops, are they? Each time they hope and believe that they've "found it (the right denomination) at last!"

That may be true. Tell us when next you hop.

 

[tango]

For new ppl it doesn't matter how they're dressed.
In my first pentecostal church they were so insane extreme. A guy who did the worship was so happy he found God, a year later I met him. He left church because he could not lead the worship w out wearing a tie. A suit was not enough. Put off your jacket when it was hot was forbidden. When I came there I walked around in my brothers pants. My, the comments I got in the preaching. He kept saying we had to wear a dress and I had to borrow one from my mom cause I had no dress and I looked like an old cow w 16. If it's so important that ppl leave church for a freakin tie something's wrong.

To me this is just another reason why formal dress codes in church are counterproductive - one person effectively chased out of church and you more or less pushed out because you weren't wearing an item you didn't even own. At that point the church might as well have said "poor people need not apply" or some such.

 

[Imalive]

To me this is just another reason why formal dress codes in church are counterproductive - one person effectively chased out of church and you more or less pushed out because you weren't wearing an item you didn't even own. At that point the church might as well have said "poor people need not apply" or some such.

Lol I mostly wear denim to church cause it's the national dress code anyway, but once I went to a church where they wore a bit more churchy clothes, I notice church cultures in that btw, and they gave me a bag full of clothes cause they thought I had nothing. That was just my style lol.
I've been to a church in America once. My. The neatest dresses and make up and all that. No way I would wear denim there.

 

[tango]

Lol I mostly wear denim to church cause it's the national dress code anyway, but once I went to a church where they wore a bit more churchy clothes, I notice church cultures in that btw, and they gave me a bag full of clothes cause they thought I had nothing. That was just my style lol.
I've been to a church in America once. My. The neatest dresses and make up and all that. No way I would wear denim there.

I wear shorts and a T-shirt to church. When it's colder I wear jeans and a T-shirt to church. At my last church (before I moved away from the area) it was a standing joke with the pastor that I was the last one in the church to stop wearing shorts and flip flops. Sometimes I'd show up to church in December wearing shorts and flip flops. Shorts because they were comfortable, flip flops because they were comfortable and let me move around more easily (like the time I was asked to take pictures of a dedication, and being able to just kick my flip flops off made it much easier to kneel down to get a better camera angle)

If I'm doing something prominent from the front (leading the service, preaching etc) then I'll wear something plain, simply because I'd rather people were paying attention to what I'm saying than trying to figure out what my T-shirt is saying. If I'm in the church building at other times (to check my mailbox there, or fix something) then I wear whatever I happen to have on. A few times I've gone to the church to fix something before I've even had a shower, because I had other dirty work planned for the day and there was no point showering before doing my sweaty messy work.

 

[Josiah]

I wear shorts and a T-shirt to church. When it's colder I wear jeans and a T-shirt to church. At my last church (before I moved away from the area) it was a standing joke with the pastor that I was the last one in the church to stop wearing shorts and flip flops. Sometimes I'd show up to church in December wearing shorts and flip flops. Shorts because they were comfortable, flip flops because they were comfortable and let me move around more easily (like the time I was asked to take pictures of a dedication, and being able to just kick my flip flops off made it much easier to kneel down to get a better camera angle)

If I'm doing something prominent from the front (leading the service, preaching etc) then I'll wear something plain, simply because I'd rather people were paying attention to what I'm saying than trying to figure out what my T-shirt is saying. If I'm in the church building at other times (to check my mailbox there, or fix something) then I wear whatever I happen to have on. A few times I've gone to the church to fix something before I've even had a shower, because I had other dirty work planned for the day and there was no point showering before doing my sweaty messy work.

IMO, that's fine. That's part of the "culture" of your church family and acceptable to them. When I was a boy, I often wore shorts to church too (but hey, I grew up in a beach town). I was thinking more about being a first-time guest in a church and not giving offense by dressing in a way conflicting with the "culture" of that church (guests should not purposely protest what's the custom in another's home). I'm NOT talking about a poor person not being able to wear a $5,000 Italian suit.... I'm talking about someone wearing sloppy shorts and a tank top (celebrating pot) in a church were that's just not done, where that might be offensive. But yeah.... it applies to our own church home, too. Again, I'm not talking economics.... most men can afford clean, long pants and a collared shirt if that's what's done in the family. IMO, when we are a part of a family, we respect and honor that family and often "adjust" since being a part of a family doesn't not mean being self-centered but other-centered.

My Lutheran parish embraces almost anything (we would react negatively to nudity or just underwear or pj's etc. - there IS an understood dress code that I HOPE guests would realize). There are men in shorts and a t-shirt, and men in full suits, and all in between. I tend to wear nice khakis, a long-sleave collared shirt, tie and dressy shoes (not Nikes). That's pretty much what I wear when I'm a guest in another church, too (such as when I'm on a business trip or vacation). Seems to work about anywhere in the USA. My parish is in a beach town where the weather is nearly always nice. I suspect it would be different if the church were in Vermont.


My opinion....


- Josiah

 

[tango]

IMO, that's fine. That's part of the "culture" of your church family and acceptable to them. When I was a boy, I often wore shorts to church too (but hey, I grew up in a beach town). I was thinking more about being a first-time guest in a church and not giving offense by dressing in a way conflicting with the "culture" of that church (guests should not purposely protest what's the custom in another's home). I'm NOT talking about a poor person not being able to wear a $5,000 Italian suit.... I'm talking about someone wearing sloppy shorts and a tank top (celebrating pot) in a church were that's just not done, where that might be offensive. But yeah.... it applies to our own church home, too. Again, I'm not talking economics.... most men can afford clean, long pants and a collared shirt if that's what's done in the family. IMO, when we are a part of a family, we respect and honor that family and often "adjust" since being a part of a family doesn't not mean being self-centered but other-centered.

My Lutheran parish embraces almost anything (we would react negatively to nudity or just underwear or pj's etc. - there IS an understood dress code that I HOPE guests would realize). There are men in shorts and a t-shirt, and men in full suits, and all in between. I tend to wear nice khakis, a long-sleave collared shirt, tie and dressy shoes (not Nikes). That's pretty much what I wear when I'm a guest in another church, too (such as when I'm on a business trip or vacation). Seems to work about anywhere in the USA. My parish is in a beach town where the weather is nearly always nice. I suspect it would be different if the church were in Vermont.


My opinion....


- Josiah

WIth respect, you're still talking about what is acceptable to other people. It's natural for people to gravitate to others who are at least somewhat like them but if the church is supposed to be reaching out to all we can't be creating artificial barriers that keep people away, especially the most needy.

The exclusive members-only club might insist that you don't get in unless you're wearing formal evening dress. If a church has an overt dress code and won't accept people who don't meet it, or an implied dress code where people who don't meet it are either subject to "the look" from all corners or are simply left to realise that they are in the wrong place, what kind of message does that send about the Jesus we claim loved everybody enough to die for them? Can we really afford to let people come into a church, listen to a message that "God loves all his creation" but, through rejecting them based on the clothes they wear, give them the clear message that we're called to love everyone except people like them?

What Jesus said about "when you did it not unto the least of these" doesn't sit very well in my mind with expecting people to adhere to a dress code to gather to worship him.

 

[Albion]

WIth respect, you're still talking about what is acceptable to other people.

Certainly. The question here is about what each of us SHOULD do, not what we can get away with.

 

[tango]

Certainly. The question here is about what each of us SHOULD do, not what we can get away with.

Sure, except what we should do is be pleasing to God rather than pleasing to other people, no?

 

[Imalive]

Sure, except what we should do is be pleasing to God rather than pleasing to other people, no?

Yes. In our group it doesn't matter. Some like a nice suit once in a while, some wear denim. It doesn't matter at all. One guy used to be homeless and alcohol addicted. He wears nice suits now lol and he bought some he didn't fit, he gave em to the pastor.

 

[TurtleHare]

Don't kick the pew in front of you.