In the Sixties and Seventies in the north east Ulster Bible Belt, the traditional harvest thanksgiving services heralded when the womenfolk unveiled their winter fashions and outfits.
Us menfolk usually had a specific two-piece or three-piece suit for the Sabbath, affectionately known as ‘The Sunday Best’. However, for the females, life in the Bible Belt could become very misogynistic where men would dictate that all women have their heads covered in any place of worship.
It’s an issue I’ve highlighted in the past during my columns on The Blanket.
The real problem for female fashion in the Christian church stems from a dogmatic male interpretation of the Biblical New Testament book of First Corinthians Chapter 11, and especially verse 16. Let’s take the New Living Translation:
Yes, if she refuses to wear a head covering, she should cut off all her hair! But since it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or her head shaved, she should wear a covering.
Put bluntly, there would be some Christian fundamentalist places of worship which would not admit a woman into membership unless she wore a hat to church.
However, with many places of worship witnessing a drop in pew numbers, could a relaxing of strict traditions on what to wear to church be one way of increasing Sunday attendances?
In the mid-Seventies, a popular denim jacket for young teenage males like myself was a Wrangler jacket. I pestered my parents to buy me one for Boys’ Brigade camp - which they did.
But it was one thing for the preacher’s kid to wear a Wrangler jacket at BB camp in England; it was a totally different matter when I turned up at the Saturday evening church youth club back in the north Antrim Bible Belt. You’d thought I had chucked a petrol bomb into the hall such was the backlash!
Earlier this year, I happened to be in an evangelical place of worship, only to see the cleric’s wife wearing a denim jacket herself - and not a peep of criticism from the flock!
I wish I had a Dr Who Tardis to transport that cleric’s wife back to the Seventies north Antrim Bible Belt to let critics see - this is what it’ll be like in 2024!
Indeed, whilst the Seventies was an era of flamboyant shirts, ties and French flared trousers, such a liberty was not bestowed on me as a preacher’s kid. For a long period of time in my teens, I had to wear my school uniform to Sunday worship to avoid the criticism of what I branded, the fashion fascists or more diplomatically - the tut-tut brigade, who would moan about the dress code of the preacher’s kid.
It all came to a rapid end when an elder’s wife took pity on me and bought me two fancy shirts and matching colourful ties. One of the tut-tut brigade began a rant about the disgraceful dress sense of young Coulter.
Unfortunately this person viewed their opinions in front of the kindly elder’s wife who had bought me the shirt and tie in the first place. What erupted was the mother of all cat fights between the two women!
The end result was that criticism of my Sabbath dress sense ceased as my critics didn’t know if I had purchased the clothing myself, or had it been bought to me by a friend in that north Antrim Bible Belt. In fashion terms, the preacher’s kid could be as flamboyant as he wanted without fear of ridicule.
As I approach my 65th birthday with church life a major part of my spiritual DNA, it has always bemused me why males get so angry about women not wearing hats to places of worship. Traditional mission halls were not exempt from such draconian rules.
I recall one instance when a primary school aged Gospel singer was refused permission to perform at one such mission hall because she arrived with her parents, and no hat!
In another case, two middle-aged sisters were told during a Gospel mission by two middle-aged male evangelists that they would not be welcome back at the meetings unless they wore hats! And we wonder why so many young people are turning their backs on church attendance.
I also recall visiting one church from a fundamentalist denomination which had a reputation for the strict enforcing of the wearing of hats to see numerous young women at the church bedecked with fascinators, which did not resemble a hat or bonnet, but looked like two twigs with a feather! Again, a full blown hell-fire service - but not a word of criticism on fascinators!
Even at the more relaxed mid-week Bible studies which many churches run, casual wear - especially sporting shirts - would draw flak from traditionalists.
An elder’s wife once berated me for wearing an Arsenal top to the mid week, but ignored two other chaps wearing Chelsea and Spurs tops! But maybe that says more about my choice of Premiership team.
Many clerics, especially from the Protestant traditions, have abandoned the traditional clerical robes and collars in favour of shirts, ties, and even open-neck causal tee-shirts when delivering their sermons.
The challenges which places of worship now face. Does God look on the heart or on the head? Will what you wear to Sunday worship dictate where your soul ends up in eternity?
These may seem like flippant questions, but answering them could hold the key to encouraging more people to fill the pews at Sunday worship or the mid-week meetings.
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| Follow Dr John Coulter on Twitter @JohnAHCoulter Listen to commentator Dr John Coulter’s programme, Call In Coulter, every Saturday morning around 10.15 am on Belfast’s Christian radio station, Sunshine 1049 FM. Listen online. |
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