The warmer months are coming. Should your pastor implement a modesty dress code for church (for both men and women)?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Lepanto
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
L

Lepanto

Guest
The warmer months are coming. Should your pastor implement a modesty dress code for church (for both men and women)?

Remember, we’re talking about modesty, not stylishness or cost of the clothes.
 
Yes! I think it should be published first in each diocesan newspaper.

Then notice posted in the narthex of each church.
 
The problem with a modesty policy is that some pastors take it upon themselves to interpret that to mean they can state exactly what people should wear and not wear. So, Our Lady of the Blue Collar has one policy, St. Umteefratz has another, and don’t you dare show up to St.Mercedes without at least a BMW under your modest haute coutre.

I’m with IndyAnn- The bishop needs to originate it, have his executive staff vett it, and then publish it in the diocese newspaper.
 
I chose “Yes”. I do like the idea of the Bishop of the diocese stating what it is considered “modest”. Or you can do what I’ve seen done in churches/cathedrals over in Italy - they give men or women these paper cover-ups as they come into the church if they don’t have enough clothing on due to the hot weather. 😛 One of the reasons why I always brought a sweater with me.
 
All they need to do is turn the AC way down. People will bring in sweaters and jackets to cover their legs and arms and over time will expect to wear more coverage to keep from freezing. It is a little sneaky, but it keeps the people coming without being confrontational in an age where many aren’t ready or that particular confrontation yet.
 
^Unless it’s like our church, huge and old and without any kind of AC. 🙂 Gets like a blast furnace sometimes (but I still love it)! I agree, a posting in the bulletin and a notice in the narthex about appropriate dress are both good ideas.
 
Yes, I wish the Bishop would do something.

As a former Protestant, I must be honest. I never seen this problem in my previous churches.

Why is this a concern in the Catholic Church? Seriously? I only vaguely remember seeing a few girls in my previous church wearing short, short skirts, other than that, nothing…

Now, I see women in their 40’s with their bellies hanging out.

Not to throw this thread off…but just came to my mind.

God bless.
 
I wish they would! But the challenge comes with enforcing the dress code. Our parish church has signs posted reminding people to be respectful of the Blessed Sacrament by refraining from talking, and they still jabber away after Mass as if they were leaving the movie theater. :rolleyes: If they will ignore that, they’ll ignore the dress code notices, too. The thought of cranking up the A/C is a good idea, but it’s pretty costly for a church the size of ours.
 
The warmer months are here. The Mississippi cruise boats stop here and down in New Orleans. We routinely get tourists in shorts, tennis shoes with white socks, (OK some of you male Yankee types insist on wearing black socks)…Face it folks, it’s hot down here. I have worn shorts and tennis shoes to go to Mass when I was on vacation on the Gulf Shore of both Alabama and Florida. I don’t see the problem. We know they are tourists. We know they are Catholics. We know it is hot outside.

No, I do not wear shorts to Mass on Sunday. But I also know that tourists are packing for the season. They are not packing to go to Mass. So, as blazing hot as it can get down here, I have no problem with folks in shorts, tee shirts, and tennis shoes who are visiting from afar.
 
In my previous parish it was in the bulletin weekly during warm weather that shorts, etc. were not appropriate, but I think it maybe even needs to be addressed from the pulpit in some parishes (like the one we have been in for the past 2 years). I see far too many people (as well as adults unfortunately) coming to Mass dressed for the beach rather than for Mass. I really think that for some people if it doesn’t come directly from the pastor, and I mean with specifics about what is and what is not appropriate, that they think it doesn’t apply to them.
 
^I don’t have an issue with shorts, tees and tennies, either–I wear them myself to Mass when it’s warm out. But they’re very modest, that is, no holes or rips in the shorts or shoes, and my tees are un-sloganed and short sleeve. What I object to are the clothes that the younger set wears: pants that drag and rip on the ground or drag halfway down their rear-ends, and girls’ shirts that are barely more than dental floss.
 
I voted no because I think formally implementing a modesty dress code is over the top and unless I’m wrong I don’t think the priest can do this. Where is it written under his prieslty duties that he can enforce a modesty rule? Maybe he can but it would be a bad idea. Who is going to enforce it? The servers, Mass coordinator? The priest is not always availiable. All the people helping at Mass are more in contact with people coming to Mass. Some people might have a different idea what they consider modest. It could create some awkward or hurtful moments.

Now, I do think he could encourage people to dress modestly by talking about it. Our priests did this not long ago, they both asked us to be mindful of where we are and to try and dress appropriately. They even gave examples. I’ve seen much less faded sloppy torn jeans sweat pants etc… They also implemented some other changes in the Mass which help people take the Mass more seriously.

I just think there are ways to do this without being off putting and placing parishners in the role of being clothing police. :eek:
 
brotherhrolf said:
The warmer months are here. The Mississippi cruise boats stop here and down in New Orleans. We routinely get tourists in shorts, tennis shoes with white socks, (OK some of you male Yankee types insist on wearing black socks)…Face it folks, it’s hot down here. I have worn shorts and tennis shoes to go to Mass when I was on vacation on the Gulf Shore of both Alabama and Florida. I don’t see the problem. We know they are tourists. We know they are Catholics. We know it is hot outside.

No, I do not wear shorts to Mass on Sunday. But I also know that tourists are packing for the season. They are not packing to go to Mass. So, as blazing hot as it can get down here, I have no problem with folks in shorts, tee shirts, and tennis shoes who are visiting from afar.
Click to expand...
Shorts and tee shirts are not immodest…it’s the short skirts, mid driff shirts with bellies hanging out and tight jeans/shorts that don’t give and blah, blah, blah…I’d go to church in capris, t-shirt and flip flops, during the week and if someone shows up as a traveler, sure that’s okay…however…I don’t want to see your cleavage and butt cheeks and belly…I think that’s what we are talking about here…
 
DJgang said:
Shorts and tee shirts are not immodest…it’s the short skirts, mid driff shirts with bellies hanging out and tight jeans/shorts that don’t give and blah, blah, blah…I’d go to church in capris, t-shirt and flip flops, during the week and if someone shows up as a traveler, sure that’s okay…however…I don’t want to see your cleavage and butt cheeks and belly…I think that’s what we are talking about here…
Click to expand...
Certainly that is beyond the pale but I have never seen this in all my years in church neither here in Baton Rouge or down in New Orleans. I’m shocked, I guess. As hot as it gets down here, the vast majority of our parishoners dress conservatively. I have never seen any tourist in shorts dressed inappropriately. I don’t see a need to publish a dress code in my parish.
 
DJgang said:
Shorts and tee shirts are not immodest…it’s the short skirts, mid driff shirts with bellies hanging out and tight jeans/shorts that don’t give and blah, blah, blah…I’d go to church in capris, t-shirt and flip flops, during the week and if someone shows up as a traveler, sure that’s okay…however…I don’t want to see your cleavage and butt cheeks and belly…I think that’s what we are talking about here…
Click to expand...
Ya know, we wear jeans and shorts durning the summer here as well, we reach temps over the 100s so cool clothes are a must. 🙂 The thing is, I haven’t seen the mid driffs as much anymore. That style seems to have gone out. I have three daughters and go shopping with them so I know what’s out there. Around here anyway. The thing you see a lot is really super short shorts :eek: as we once called them micro minis 😃 but they were skirts. If you take a trip into a “Tillys” you can see what’s popular now for girls anyway.

So far I haven’t seen any real inmodest clothing in our parish. Most people dress thier age and respectful enough. I don’t allow my girls to wear thier t-shirts with stuff written on them. I think that is too sloppy for Church. They are at the age now where they know what to pick out and wear.
 
I chose other because I don’t think it is appropriate to say “this is the dress code” but it is appropriate to make a notice such as “with the warmer weather we all tend to wear less clothes, let’s make sure we are covered appropriately to be in front of the Blessed Sacrament” and this is actually something my Pastor will do in the early summer in his “letter” he writes every week for the bulletin.

For the most part it does some good but sometimes fashion, especially for women, gets in the way of trying to be modest (I know I have purchased something that looked to be modest and when I put it on for Mass it was too low cut!)

Brenda V.
 
Lepanto said:
The warmer months are coming. Should your pastor implement a modesty dress code for church (for both men and women)?

Remember, we’re talking about modesty, not stylishness or cost of the clothes.
Click to expand...
They do it in public schools; it should be done also in Church.
The Church should be the moral leaders of the community, not the schools.
 
With SPECIAL EMPHASIS on EUCHARISTIC MINISTERS who show up, scantily clad on hot days (yes, it HAS happened in my current parish)… and expect to give the Holy Eucharist to Gods people.:tsktsk:

Dear Pastors… PLEASE make sure your Eucharistic Ministers are reverently attired… no matter what the temperature.
 
I voted no on the basis of I didn’t like the word “implement”.

“Posting” a dress code and “implementing” ones are two different things…

I am all for posting one in the narthex or the bulletin and maybe picking two sundays to mention in in 20 seconds or less at each homily… But I don’t want ushers eyeballing and then enforcing these.

Having said that, a priest I know of had a 14-15ish boy parishoner wear a particularly CRUDE t-shirt with an explicit sex reference on it to Mass. (If I even tried ti type it, it would be censored here!) …Father noticed it before Mass began. He walked out of the sacristy and tapped the kid on the shoulder and told him to go to the bathroom and turn his t-shirt inside out if he wanted to stay for Mass, or go home, change and attend a different Mass.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top