Saturday, September 05, 2009

CONTEMPORARY PULPIT COOL

David Weaver hits this one out of the park:
They did what pastors all over the world have learned to do, they copied what they saw major contemporary pastors wear. That quickly turned into “contemporary pulpit cool.” A new tradition; a contemporary fashion dogma was born. Now pastors feel compelled to speak with their shirt out even in churches that minister to businessmen in suits. They all look alike. Some have become fashion trendsetters with their own line of “church cool clothing.” It really came into focus recently as I flipped through the channels and saw a young man standing on a stage dressed a certain way and immediately I said to myself, “He’s a pastor.” Sure enough it was a religious program and he was a pastor of a “contemporary church”, whatever that is.

Fighting the 'oppressive' status quo leads to its own unassailable status quo. Tuck in your shirt.


[Thanks to JMB for the link]

5 comments:

Bryan said...

They dress like that so they will look like all the other nonconformists.

Jeff said...

A wise man once said, "Cool is not a fruit of the spirit."

Tommy Bailey said...

Hey man, great article! Thanks for linking to the Puffy Shirt!

Anonymous said...

Let's give the surplice a try.

On a seperate issue, maybe you can help me out. What percentage of non-institutional churches have elders? Do you know of anyone who has that information?

Thanks,

Ken

Alan said...

Ken,

I don't think there's any way to know. I do think it's a situation that's improving, but there are a lot of smaller/rural congregations that are going to struggle to appoint elders. Let me know if you find out anything.