Why Vestments?

Part 1: Why Liturgical Vestments?

Over the years, within evangelical and Protestant circles, there has been a significant shift away from the use of vestments, or clerical uniforms, in the life of the local church. Even within our Reformed circles, this has been apparent. Most evangelical and Reformed types view vestments as a Papist or Anglo-Catholic practice, and, since we are Reformed and not Roman Catholic, then such a practice is clearly off the table. However, historically, this has not always been so. In fact, the early Reformed tradition, in moving away from Rome, not only recovered the full-orbed participatory liturgy of the first 1,200 years, which we call covenant renewal worship, but also the liturgical practices involved in that ancient, biblical pattern of corporate worship, including the use of liturgical uniforms. During the 16th and 17th C., in Geneva and Scotland, Genevan pastors wore the black robe of the academy, while in France, Reformed pastors wore white robes. In addition, in keeping with this perspective, Scottish Presbyterians took the practice of wearing clerical uniforms to the streets, as it were, by extending the practice to wearing clerical shirts with white collars out in public.

Now, we can find uniforms for various vocations in life, can we not? This is not just something historic, but something contemporary. When we go into a Tim Hortons to order coffee, we find smiling employees serving us at the counter. While we see the person, what is in the foreground is his or her role as a Tim Hortons employee. Similarly, we may meet a police officer and, while there’s a person behind the uniform, what’s being emphasised is his office, and thus there’s an expectation to treat him according to his office. In the same way, liturgical uniforms are function the same way – they’re meant to background the man wearing them and foreground his ordination and office as elder-pastor.

Yet, while all of this is good and true, we don’t just want to be a people of tradition and practicalities. We are commanded by God to be a people of the Book – His Book. For this reason, we must have Biblical justification for this practice, especially since it’s meant to be included in the corporate worship service of the living God.

Where then do we find liturgical uniforms? The place we find this is throughout the book of Revelation. Over and over again, we find the saints of the living God clothed in white robes. The congregation at Sardis is promised, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life” (Rev. 3:5). The 24 elders who rule round about Yahweh’s throne in heaven are also clothed in white robes (Rev. 4:4). Likewise, the martyrs under the altar in heaven are given white robes as they wait only a little longer for their deaths to be vindicated (Rev. 6:11). These are the robes of heaven. Indeed, the reason they are white is that they represent the pure and complete obedience of Christ Jesus in the place of all God’s elect, who alone ensures that rebel-sinners are reconciled to their most holy God, as they cling to Him with the empty hand of repentant faith (Rom. 5:9-10). This is how the Apocalypse symbolically portrays the status of every true believer in heaven.

Given this, why then should elder-pastors in particular wear white robes as we worship together around God’s throne as a congregation? Biblically, the wearing of liturgical uniforms is tied to the ordination of church officers. Under the old covenant, Levitical priests were formally set apart for the work of the temple through the laying on of hands on the head of a ram. At that time, they were given special uniforms to wear as they served in their office, and those robes were likewise ordained with oil and blood from the sacrifice (Lev. 8:22-36). Now, under the new covenant, elder-pastors are formally set apart for the work of teaching, shepherding, leading, and ruling in the congregation through the laying on of hands on their head. As it pertains to corporate worship, elder-pastors are responsible for ensuring the liturgy is entirely faithful to Scripture, for leading the congregation through the liturgy each and every Lord’s Day, and for faithfully administering the Word of the living God and His holy sacraments in that context. And so, as the Lord our God calls us into heaven to worship around His throne with myriads and myriads of angels, ordained elder-pastors are to wear the uniform of their office as they faithfully carry out the liturgical duties of their office in Christ’s congregation. That uniform is the white robe of the saints in heaven, for that is where we spiritually are during corporate worship. Then, after we have feasted with Christ at His Table, the Lord commissions us to go back out into the world as the living sacrifices we are, to bring His good and holy rule into each and every area of life. Here then is the biblical reason for why ordained elder-pastors in particular should wear white robes in the congregation while performing their liturgical duties.

As we worship together in the Lord’s covenant renewal service, you will notice that, in accompanying the white robe, elder-pastors at Christ Covenant Church also wear a coloured stole draped down the front and cincture about the waist. The stole signifies the elder-pastor’s ordination, and its colour indicates where we currently are in the Christian calendar – Christ is in the business of redeeming all of creation, including the calendar (Col. 1:19-20). White, therefore, is the colour of high Sabbaths, either Christmas or Easter. Purple is the colour of preparation – Advent and Lent – leading into Christmas and Easter respectively. Red is the colour of the suffering of our Lord, and so is worn during Holy Week right before Easter. And green is the colour of growth and is used during the Epiphany and Pentecost seasons – Epiphany extends from the end of Christmas through to the beginning of Lent, while the season of Pentecost lasts from the end of Easter all the way to the beginning of Advent. It is one of these four colours you will find draped around the neck of our elder-pastors during corporate worship.

Similarly, the cincture is a simple rope worn around the waist and signifies humility as elder-pastors are called to self-sacrificially serve Christ’s sheep in their office, and so exemplify what it means to love one another as Christ has first loved us (John 13:12-16). In addition, the cincture is a belt for the elder-pastor to gird up his loins for battle as he leads the Church of the living God in warfare against the gates of hell, wherever the enemy has erected them in defence of ungodliness in the culture around us (Matt. 16:18). It is through Word and sacrament that Christ’s sheep are corrected and comforted, and in so doing the gates of hell are joyously affronted (Ps. 23). In humble submission to Christ our King, through our corporate worship, He is waging warfare against His enemies round about us, and the cincture is there to remind us of this.

These are the biblical reasons for our inclusion of vestments in our corporate worship practice at Christ Covenant Church. In doing so, we stand squarely in the historic liturgical tradition of our Reformed and Christian forefathers. As a session, we have prepared this explanation as a way to help you understand this important practice, that we would continue moving forward together in unity. We pray it will be a help to you.

Additional Resources: Why Does the Pastor Wear a White Robe? by Pastor Jeffrey Meyers