Too casual: Sunday best sheds in importance

Historically speaking, the Sabbath is not a glamorous day.

Rather, many religions view it as a day of cleanliness and solemnity, one to worship and rest, and not do much else.

But as times change, so do views of what are appropriate ways to keep holy the Sabbath – including one’s choice of clothing to attend church services.

“The important thing in any age, no matter what the cultural expectations are, is that when people come to church, they need to be ready to worship,” said the Rev. Dave Hedges, pastor at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Sycamore.

Some biblical texts call for modesty in dress. Jesus’ apostle Paul wrote in a letter to Timothy that women especially should not have braided hair, gold, pearls or expensive garments. Rather, they should adorn themselves “by good deeds.”

And 18th century Methodist leader John Wesley offered these words: “Let your dress be cheap, as well as plain.”

It was the Victorians who made a turning point in fashion. As they got richer, the middle class built more elaborate houses of worship to show their status.

“The aesthetics of an environment does affect how we worship,” said the Rev. Linda Slabon, minister of Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of DeKalb. “You can see that in how church architecture has changed.”

With fancier buildings came an environment that invited fancier clothing: our “Sunday best.”

But hot wool suits and Sunday-best dresses have made way for ripped jeans, T-shirts and frankly, more skin.

“When I grew up, you put on your Sunday best, especially for the holidays. It was always a new Christmas dress and Easter dress,” said the Rev. Diane Dardón, pastor of Lutheran Campus Ministry in DeKalb. “That, I personally see nothing of anymore.”

Dardón’s congregation is demographically younger than most, as the majority are students at Northern Illinois University. Though she accepts that the days of showing off a new, velvet Christmas gown are a generation old, the reverence shown by college students in times of worship still astonishes her.

“With young adults, there’s this absolute sense that God is not so concerned about what we look like and what we’re wearing, but that God is more concerned with what we’re wearing in our hearts,” she said.

Dress absolutely affects how we feel and reflects how we feel inside, local clergy agreed.

Just as dressing up for work or for a big exam will help some focus, dressing a certain way for church will help some worship better, Hedges said.

And the same goes for those leading the worship.

“How I dress often connects with my themes of my services,” Slabon said. “If it’s a celebration, I may dress more up. If I want to reflect different emotions – if it’s a service on grieving – I may dress more soberly.”

Slabon is elated when she looks out at a congregation and sees a dress code as wide as the sun – suits and ties, jeans and T-shirts, and everything in between.

This array of attire reflects a society that enjoys personal comfort, Hedges said. Once, he asked a woman at St. Peter’s who sews Civil War-era clothing why men wore three-piece suits when they worked outside in the hot sun. Her answer was they were accustomed to a life that didn’t include deodorant or air conditioning.

“It was simply that discomfort was a part of life then,” Hedges said. “I think we have a culture that tries to get away from that as much as possible.”

Whether a dress code for church is embedded in scripture or other authority can be debated. But clergy agree that even if there are regulations handed down from somewhere else, it’s more important that those who come to worship come at their own level of comfort and respect.