Why I Started Wearing a Robe
“Why did you start wearing a robe? Are you going to wear one forever?”
This is a very understandable question that I have been asked recently. Over the last 4 or so years of Christ Church’s life, I never wore a robe. And all of a sudden, this past Holy Week I started wearing an alb (the proper word for a white robe) during Holy Eucharist on Sunday mornings, and I haven't stopped. I know that for those of you who love the beauty of sacramental worship, you may have fist pumped with liturgical excitement. But I also know that for those of you who love Christ Church, but are still uneasy with some of the more formal parts of our Anglican tradition, this may have caused a minor freakout (“Oh no! Not the robe! The collar was already stretching my limits!”). Wearing a robe is not a requirement in our diocese, so why did I start wearing one? There are two main reasons:
A Ministry to the Congregation
The first reason is that I think this is a ministry and gift to you all, our congregation. That might seem weird to say, so let me explain why. The American church is in a profound season of reckoning with the downsides of celebrity pastor culture, and more particularly with the cult of personality in church life, no matter the size of the congregation. There’s nothing wrong with leadership or strong personalities—those are great things. But we are all learning that there is a problem when the church is organized around a personality.
And this is the gift of the priesthood and holy orders. The priesthood is an office, to which a person is called to fill and be faithful. The priesthood is historic and global, and as an office it is bigger than whatever personality fills that office. People come and go as priests, but the office does not. It has endured and will endure as an institution that serves the Body of Christ. In this sense, it’s helpful to think of it like the presidency. Many presidents have come and gone, but the presidency is bigger and more enduring than any president. Our country is therefore structured around the office of the presidency, and not the personalities who fill it temporarily.
By wearing a robe on Sunday morning, my office is being emphasized, and not my personality. Indeed, to an extent, by putting on the robe, the office is covering my personality. This doesn’t mean I—Scott—disappear. But it does mean that in worship it is my role as priest, and my faithfulness to the office of the priesthood that is emphasized, just as a police officer who puts on a uniform comes to represent more than himself or herself.
How is this a ministry to the congregation? Well, a robe is a visual reminder that it is the office of the priesthood that is integral to our parish life of word and sacrament, and not me. It also teaches us that the pastor’s job, along with all those called to holy orders, is to be faithful to the requirements of their office, and not to bend it to themselves. All this is important, because while a personality can never quite be replaced, an office can always be filled again. I am definitely not planning on going anywhere, but there will come a day that I no longer am the rector in this congregation. And that’s ok, because the office will remain, and another person will fill that role, and look exactly the same in their vestments, and be called to the same faithfulness in word and sacrament. Interestingly enough, this is how the book of Acts opens up, with the community filling a pastoral vacancy: "for it is written in the book of Psalms… ‘let another take his office’" (Acts 1:20). This is a biblical and beautiful aspect of our apostolic faith that I think—in such a cultural season as this—is wise for us to bake into our church life from the start.
A Ministry to Me
But second, I confess that maybe the biggest reason I started wearing a robe is that it’s been a ministry to me. It may not seem like it, but I have always struggled with stage fright and being in front of people. And this is, as you can imagine, something of an occupational hazard when public preaching is a huge part of your job! But even more, like Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3, this wrestling with stage anxiety has often been an occasion for almost debilitating accusation from the enemy. I love and feel called to be a shepherd and teacher under God, but the struggle has been very real.
And thus, just as God clothes Joshua the priest in pure vestments, it has been an immense blessing for me to put on an alb each week. For one, I feel covered by the Lord. I feel sheltered by Him. But also, it reminds me that I minister out of my baptismal purity and the power of the High Priesthood of the Lord Jesus, who through His suffering has washed my garments clean by His blood. And even more, like a teenager with a weird looking uniform they have to wear to high school, it completely takes away any focus on how I look on Sundays. It’s impossible to look cool in a robe in 2022, and believe it or not, I am really thankful for that. The Church is not in the cool business; we are in the business of stewarding the mysteries of God.
So that’s why I started wearing a robe. Of course there are a lot of other contextual reasons. Like, for instance, I actually didn’t own a robe before this past Holy Week (was a bit slow on the draw on that one). Or it just never felt right in the gym. And there are far more biblical and historical reasons, as we will no doubt study next summer in Exodus when God first commands his priests to be clothed in fine vestments “for beauty and for glory” (Exodus 28:2). But those are the main two, and I hope this explanation helps. After Kaitlyn is ordained as a deacon, we hope to offer more teaching on the foundations of holy orders and how they compliment the priesthood of all believers, as we all minister by, and through, and for Jesus, our Head and High Priest.
In Him,
Scott+
This is a very understandable question that I have been asked recently. Over the last 4 or so years of Christ Church’s life, I never wore a robe. And all of a sudden, this past Holy Week I started wearing an alb (the proper word for a white robe) during Holy Eucharist on Sunday mornings, and I haven't stopped. I know that for those of you who love the beauty of sacramental worship, you may have fist pumped with liturgical excitement. But I also know that for those of you who love Christ Church, but are still uneasy with some of the more formal parts of our Anglican tradition, this may have caused a minor freakout (“Oh no! Not the robe! The collar was already stretching my limits!”). Wearing a robe is not a requirement in our diocese, so why did I start wearing one? There are two main reasons:
A Ministry to the Congregation
The first reason is that I think this is a ministry and gift to you all, our congregation. That might seem weird to say, so let me explain why. The American church is in a profound season of reckoning with the downsides of celebrity pastor culture, and more particularly with the cult of personality in church life, no matter the size of the congregation. There’s nothing wrong with leadership or strong personalities—those are great things. But we are all learning that there is a problem when the church is organized around a personality.
And this is the gift of the priesthood and holy orders. The priesthood is an office, to which a person is called to fill and be faithful. The priesthood is historic and global, and as an office it is bigger than whatever personality fills that office. People come and go as priests, but the office does not. It has endured and will endure as an institution that serves the Body of Christ. In this sense, it’s helpful to think of it like the presidency. Many presidents have come and gone, but the presidency is bigger and more enduring than any president. Our country is therefore structured around the office of the presidency, and not the personalities who fill it temporarily.
By wearing a robe on Sunday morning, my office is being emphasized, and not my personality. Indeed, to an extent, by putting on the robe, the office is covering my personality. This doesn’t mean I—Scott—disappear. But it does mean that in worship it is my role as priest, and my faithfulness to the office of the priesthood that is emphasized, just as a police officer who puts on a uniform comes to represent more than himself or herself.
How is this a ministry to the congregation? Well, a robe is a visual reminder that it is the office of the priesthood that is integral to our parish life of word and sacrament, and not me. It also teaches us that the pastor’s job, along with all those called to holy orders, is to be faithful to the requirements of their office, and not to bend it to themselves. All this is important, because while a personality can never quite be replaced, an office can always be filled again. I am definitely not planning on going anywhere, but there will come a day that I no longer am the rector in this congregation. And that’s ok, because the office will remain, and another person will fill that role, and look exactly the same in their vestments, and be called to the same faithfulness in word and sacrament. Interestingly enough, this is how the book of Acts opens up, with the community filling a pastoral vacancy: "for it is written in the book of Psalms… ‘let another take his office’" (Acts 1:20). This is a biblical and beautiful aspect of our apostolic faith that I think—in such a cultural season as this—is wise for us to bake into our church life from the start.
A Ministry to Me
But second, I confess that maybe the biggest reason I started wearing a robe is that it’s been a ministry to me. It may not seem like it, but I have always struggled with stage fright and being in front of people. And this is, as you can imagine, something of an occupational hazard when public preaching is a huge part of your job! But even more, like Joshua the high priest in Zechariah 3, this wrestling with stage anxiety has often been an occasion for almost debilitating accusation from the enemy. I love and feel called to be a shepherd and teacher under God, but the struggle has been very real.
And thus, just as God clothes Joshua the priest in pure vestments, it has been an immense blessing for me to put on an alb each week. For one, I feel covered by the Lord. I feel sheltered by Him. But also, it reminds me that I minister out of my baptismal purity and the power of the High Priesthood of the Lord Jesus, who through His suffering has washed my garments clean by His blood. And even more, like a teenager with a weird looking uniform they have to wear to high school, it completely takes away any focus on how I look on Sundays. It’s impossible to look cool in a robe in 2022, and believe it or not, I am really thankful for that. The Church is not in the cool business; we are in the business of stewarding the mysteries of God.
So that’s why I started wearing a robe. Of course there are a lot of other contextual reasons. Like, for instance, I actually didn’t own a robe before this past Holy Week (was a bit slow on the draw on that one). Or it just never felt right in the gym. And there are far more biblical and historical reasons, as we will no doubt study next summer in Exodus when God first commands his priests to be clothed in fine vestments “for beauty and for glory” (Exodus 28:2). But those are the main two, and I hope this explanation helps. After Kaitlyn is ordained as a deacon, we hope to offer more teaching on the foundations of holy orders and how they compliment the priesthood of all believers, as we all minister by, and through, and for Jesus, our Head and High Priest.
In Him,
Scott+
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