That’s a question
children used to ask a lot when I was in the regular vicars. I don’t wear it so much these days, but
before I retired I wore it every working day.
It meant I never needed
to introduce myself. People recognised
it as a badge no matter what faith they were or even if they had no faith at
all. Not all clergy wear them and what I
write here is my own practice as not even all Anglican vicars have the same
views as mine. There are
no regulations saying we must wear it: the rules just say we must wear clothing
suitable to our office: (Plenty of scope there, then!) Many clergy never wear a collar and many are
careful not to wear it in places where they may at risk.
Actually the collars I
wear have to be worn with a special shirt, a shirt with a tunnel collar so that
the collar can be slipped in. There are other styles of collar and each
demands a particular type of shirt The collar isn’t the most comfortable thing to wear as it’s
plastic and condensation collects under it in hot weather. However, as it is plastic I can stick it in
the dishwasher occasionally!
Mention of the
dishwasher reminds me that it is far from unknown for clergy to make collars
out of washing up liquid bottles, with or without “Fairy” printed on.
My father was a minister and there was a time that he would wear the collar too. More likely though when in the pulpit he had a black gown on. That was a hold over from when he taught at a university in the Philippines and had to have that for graduations and other solemn occasions.
ReplyDeleteI work in my Church's office and both our ministers dress fairly casually most days but wear their collars for all services and formal meetings. One day I showed up all dressed in black and the senior minister brought me a collar to wear as a bit of a joke since I looked the part! :-) I've never worn that outfit again.
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