{"id":10188,"date":"2017-07-13T12:38:17","date_gmt":"2017-07-13T17:38:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/?p=10188"},"modified":"2017-07-13T12:38:17","modified_gmt":"2017-07-13T17:38:17","slug":"clergy-to-ditch-their-robes-in-further-sign-of-dress-down-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/clergy-to-ditch-their-robes-in-further-sign-of-dress-down-britain\/","title":{"rendered":"Clergy to ditch their robes in further sign of dress-down Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"

Church of England approves relaxation of canon law to allow its clergy to conduct services without traditional vestments<\/h3>\n
Justin Welby, the archbishop of Canterbury, wearing the traditional dress of Anglican clergy. Photograph: Ben Curtis\/AP<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

First it was ties in parliament, now it is surplices at communion.<\/p>\n

Following Speaker John Bercow\u2019s decision last month to relax the convention requiring male MPs to wear jackets and ties in parliament, the Church of England is to allow clergy to conduct services in civvies.<\/p>\n

The C of E\u2019s ruling body, the synod, meeting in York, has given final approval to a change in canon law on \u201cthe vesture of ordained and authorised ministers during the time of divine service\u201d.<\/p>\n

The measure needs to be approved by the Queen, who swapped her crown for a hat at last month\u2019s state opening of parliament in another sign of dress-down Britain.<\/p>\n

Clergy are currently required to wear traditional robes \u2013 a surplice or alb with scarf or stole \u2013 when taking communion or conducting one-off services such as weddings, funerals or baptisms.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the synod rules that clergy could adopt different forms of dress, with the agreement of their parochial church council. Where there is disagreement, the bishop of the diocese will have the final say. For weddings, funerals and baptisms, the consent of the principal participants must be gained.<\/p>\n

Traditional clerical robes date back centuries, but the rules have been increasingly ignored \u2013 especially in churches with modern, informal styles of worship.<\/p>\n

Some clergy say surplices and albs put off younger people from attending, and set the priest apart from the congregation. Traditionalists maintain the latter is the point of formal vestments.<\/p>\n

Alan Smith, the bishop of St Albans, told synod that where traditional forms of vestment were dispensed with, the forms of dress adopted by the minister \u201cmust nevertheless be suitable for a minister of the Church of England officiating at divine service\u201d.<\/p>\n

 <\/div>\n

Attitudes had changed with generations, said Alistair McHaffie, a clergyman from Blackburn. When he was a child he had addressed his friends\u2019 parents as \u201cMr and Mrs\u201d and his father seldom left the house without wearing a tie. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve become far more informal in what we wear and how we address one another,\u201d he said. The change to canon law was simply reflecting changes in society. Hundreds of churches had already dispensed with robes, and the move was simply giving them formal permission to do so.<\/p>\n

While supporting the changes, Luke Miller, the archdeacon of London, said he \u201cquite enjoys dressing up in different ways\u201d and had worried about the possibility of \u201cthemed weddings\u201d with the officiating priest colour-coded with bridesmaids.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a senior clergyman in the C of E has urged bishops to stop wearing mitres \u2013 decorative pointed hats, which neatly fold when not in use \u2013 because they are an \u201cunhelpful and unnecessary\u201d symbol of power. <\/p>\n

Ian Paul, a member of the archbishops\u2019 council \u2013 the C of E\u2019s cabinet \u2013 wrote a blogpost<\/a> headlined \u201cWhy bishops should throw away their mitres\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cTo most, and I would suggest especially the young, the sight of bishops in mitres puts them in another world. It is world of the past, a world of nostalgia, a world of deference \u2013 and mostly a world which is quite disconnected from present experience and values.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt confirms for many the impression of a church irrelevant to modern questions, contained in its own bubble of self reference. And in its hierarchical understanding of authority, it is a culture of which contemporary society is becoming less and less tolerant.\u201d<\/p>\n

ADAPTED FROM:<\/strong>
\ntheguardian<\/strong>
\nMonday 10 July 2017<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Church of England approves relaxation of canon law to allow its clergy to conduct services without traditional vestments First it was ties in parliament, now it is surplices at communion. Following Speaker John Bercow\u2019s decision last month to relax the convention requiring male MPs to wear jackets and ties in parliament, the Church of England is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":10190,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","ctfw-has-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/610"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10188"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10192,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10188\/revisions\/10192"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.anglicandioceseja.org\/copy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}