Church Traditions

I few weeks ago, I was scrolling through social media and stumbled on a video of a women who was talking about worship.  She talked about the tradition’s churches have that some might find boring. She commented that she is glad that folks find church boring.  Boring is not a bad thing.  She talked about how in worship we are connected to people (past and present), the history of the church, and the traditions set long ago. This video got me thinking a lot about the traditions we practice each week during worship. This blog will be the first in a series of blogs that I will write about some of our traditions. To begin let’s talk about the white robes and the stoles the pastors wear during worship.

Pastor Chad and I both wear a white alb (robe) on Sunday morning during the 9am worship service.  Albs are typically white, long and flowing.  Pastor Chad and I also wear a cincture which is the rope we tie around our waist.  The white alb symbolizes the white baptism garment, baptismal purity, and the common priesthood of all believers. The cincture or rope symbolizes readiness to serve or self-discipline.  The tradition of wearing an alb by pastors began around 400 A.D. and was adopted from an ancient Roman tradition.

The stoles we wear are a traditional ministerial vestment representing Christ’s yoke of servant leadership and clerical authority. As the yoke of Christ, the stole symbolizes being bound to Christ, carrying the burden of ministry, and serving the community with humility. The clerical authority represents the official duty given through ordination to lead worship, preach, and preside over the sacraments. Pastors and Deacons cannot wear stoles until they are ordained. Ordination is a public rite by which God grants a call through the church to set apart individuals for the ordered ministry of Word and Sacrament (pastors) or Word and Service (deacons).

The stoles worn during worship are typically the same color as the altar paraments.  The colors each have a meaning and are connected to a church season.  Green is the color during Ordinary Time representing “great green growing” days of life and maturation.  Blue or Purple are the colors of Advent and they represent a serious time of getting ready. White is worn during Christmas and Easter and represents pure light and joy. We also wear white during Epiphany, Baptism of Our Lord, Transfiguration of Our Lord, Holy Trinity, All Saints, and Christ the King Sundays.  Purple is worn during Lent and represents penance, sacrifice, and preparation.  Scarlet is worn during Holy Week and also represents penance, sacrifice, and preparation. Red is worn for Pentecost and Reformation and represents God’s love, the courage of the reformers, the fire of the Holy Spirit, and when the church became alive. The tradition of wearing stoles began in the 4^th century and is from an ancient Roman tradition, but wearing different colored stoles began in the 12^th and 13^th centuries in medieval Europe and was formally standardized in the United States in 1895.  The different colors of the altar paraments provide us a visual reminder of the Christian calendar.  Many of our stoles and altar paraments help tell the story of the life of Jesus. 

The practices of wearing vestments by either pastors or deacons are considered adiaphora (meaning matters neither commanded nor forbidden by God), which gives the individual congregations and synods autonomy.

There is so much history and meaning behind the vestments pastors and deacons wear on Sunday mornings.  I didn’t realize how far back the tradition of wearing an alb and stole actually went; it is quite fascinating. If you ever wonder about the stoles we were on Sunday, please ask us.  Most of my personal stoles have a story behind them or are a treasured gift from a special occasion and person, or a pastor who impacted my life and ministry.  The stoles that St. Mark has that match the paraments tell a story. Each person may see the story a little different when they look at the paraments. Which is beautiful.   

Yours in Christ,

Pastor Katrina Steingraeber