Pulpit gown

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The pulpit gown, also called pulpit robe or preaching robe, is a black gown worn by Christian ministers for preaching. It is particularly associated with Reformed churches, while also used in the Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran and Unitarian traditions.

It is commonly called the Geneva gown, especially in Reformed churches.[1] The garment in Lutheran churches is the talar (talaris vestis),[2] also called priesterrock (priest's robe) or chorrock (choir or chancel robe).[3]

Reformation Wall statues of Farel, Calvin, Beza and Knox in Geneva, all wearing their gowns.

Description[edit]

The gown, like academic and judicial gowns, is traditionally black, loose fitting with full length bell sleeves.[4] It is often constructed from heavy material and features velvet facings running over the neck and down the front, mimicking the stole sometimes worn over it.

Modern gowns in assorted colors, some worn with stoles. Doctors are entitled to wear arm bands.

A minister who has earned a doctorate (e.g. DD, DMin, PhD, ThD) may wear three velvet bars on each sleeve, or simply wear his academic gown in the pulpit. The velvet panels of the gown's facings match the sleeves.

Contemporary choir robes are distinct from the Geneva gown, usually with lighter and colorful fabric and large open sleeves.

Purpose[edit]

The Geneva gown represents the academic training the wearer has attained for the purpose of preaching.[5] The gown has the effect of concealing the person, thereby emphasizing the office instead. In this way, it is a kind of uniform.[6]

Accompanying garments[edit]

A traditional open-front Geneva gown worn over a cassock with white preaching tabs.

Modern gowns are often worn over a collared shirt with necktie or a clerical collar, with or without a suitcoat. A minister may also wear preaching bands and a stole. A lay preacher may wear a preaching scarf. Less typically a minister may wear white gloves when distributing the elements of the Lord's Supper, a practice predating the advent of stainless steel chalices and communion trays. Open-front gowns are traditionally worn over the cassock and sometimes do not include sleeves, especially in Britain where Master's gowns sometimes drop the sleeves.

History[edit]

Andreas Karlstadt first wore the academic gown into his pulpit.

The Protestant Reformers objected to the theology of ordination in Roman Catholic Church and its prescribed priestly vestments. Andreas Karlstadt was the first to wear his black academic gown during the liturgy rather than contemporary clerical dress.[7] Other Protestant ministers, (esp. Reformed), many of them former Catholic priests, followed suit.[8][9] Unlike today, when academic regalia is generally reserved for ceremonies, this would have been the daily dress for the reformers. John Knox carried the custom from Geneva to Scotland in the 1570s.[8] This was eventually defined as liturgical dress, and the traditional garment for those in leadership roles.[10][11]

In the Church of England, a controversy broke out over the prescription of vestments in the first Book of Common Prayer. The more reformed (later, Puritan) party preferring black gowns like their continental reformed peers, and objecting that such vestments were a superstitious holdover from medieval Catholicism. The debate centered around whether vestments were a thing indifferent and could thus be regulated. Official positions would fluctuate through the reigns of Edward VI and Elizabeth I. By 1610 James VI and I instructed black gowns for the pulpit.[8]

Further information: Vestarian controversy

Usage[edit]

Martin Luther depicted wearing his black talar.

By convention a minister or lay preacher only wears the gown for services in which they deliver a sermon, though it was originally a minister's daily wear in the reformation era.[12]

A survey from 1966 records North American use by denomination. In all cases, the denomination allows for local discretion or makes no official statement:[8]

Denomination Frequency of Wear
United Church of Christ Geneva gown "the rule". Doctors wear their academic gowns. Congregationalists likely to include hood, German Mercersburg adherents prefer the surplice.
United Church of Canada Gown "almost entirely" worn, usually over cassock with bands.
United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America Gown worn by a majority of ministers. Doctors wear their academic gown.
Presbyterian Church in the United States Gown worn by a majority of ministers.
Reformed Church in America Cassock with gown and bands common. Stronger in Northeast than Midwest.
Methodist Church Worn by a majority of ministers. Southern ministers more likely to wear a suit.
Evangelical United Brethren Church Gown worn in about half the churches. Rising in popularity.
African Methodist Episcopal Church Degreed ministers usually wear academic gown with hood. Others usually wear black pulpit gown.
African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church Gown normally worn.
American Baptist Convention Worn by 1/4 of ministers.
Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod Gown worn by about 1/5th of ministers, without bands.
Lutheran Church in America Gown worn by about 1/6th of ministers. Cassock, surplice and stole more common.
Southern Baptist Convention Gown worn rarely, except for baptisms. Formal attire the norm.
National Baptist Convention Gown worn by some. Most wear suits.
Moravian Church Gowns worn by some.
Disciples of Christ Gown not usual. Suits common.
American Lutheran Church Gown "almost completely" in disuse.
Churches of Christ Gowns not worn.
American Baptist Association Gowns not worn, only suits.
Church of the Nazarene Gowns not worn, only suits.
Assemblies of God Gowns not worn, only suits.
Pentecostal churches Gowns not worn, only suits.
Church of Christ, Scientist Gowns not worn, only suits.
Latter-day Saints Gowns not worn, only suits.

For historical and theological reasons the gown is most typical of Congregational, Presbyterian and Reformed churches, that is those congregations primarily influenced by Calvinist formulations of Christian doctrine and church order.[13] Though historically also common with Baptist and Methodist clergy, its use waned in the 20th century. During that century, there was a general shift toward a less formal religious service; this movement spread across most denominational lines. Rarely is this uniquely Protestant attire worn by Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholics.

Anglican[edit]

An 18th-c. Anglican minister, Philip Stanhope Dodd, preaching in his gown.

The typical clerical dress of an Anglican minister during the 18th century was a cassock, Geneva gown, and neck bands. For this reason, the gown is sometimes (though rarely) found in "low church" parishes of the Anglican Communion, many whom desire a continuity with the stauncher Protestant stances of the church before the influence of the Oxford Movement. In these parishes it is usual for the gown to be worn for preaching, whilst the surplice is worn for the liturgy.[14]

Black American[edit]

A colorful robe worn with a pectoral cross by Deborah Wolfe.

Gowns are widely used in many African-American congregations regardless of denominational affiliation.

Lutheran[edit]

The Lutheran talar, worn here with beffchen (bands), sometimes includes a collar.

Use of the gown has also waned in Lutheran churches, though it seemed to be common during the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries.

Reformed & Presbyterian[edit]

In the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, it is normal for the Geneva gown to be vented (opened at the front), sleeveless, and worn over a cassock. The cassock is usually black, but also comes in blue (as the Flag of Scotland), or scarlet red for a King's Chaplain. This practice is sometimes followed by some English Methodists and American Presbyterians, although wearing the more familiar American-style gown, including wearing a black cassock in Roman or Anglican cut.

Non-Christian[edit]

Some rabbis and spiritual leaders of other non-Christian faiths have fashioned their modern religious garb patterned after the historic Geneva gown.[citation needed]

Trends[edit]

The gown gained in popularity in the 20th century, but so did the alb after Vatican II (1962-65).[15] Ministers abandoning the gown will generally transition to an alb with accompanying cincture, stole or chasubule, or abandon distinctive dress altogether, often wearing a typical business suit.

Transition to alb[edit]

The alb, related to the ancient tunic, displaced the Geneva gown in certain churches.

The Oxford movement, paleo-orthodox and uniting church movements are all associated with a renewed interest in premodern liturgical forms. These tend to abandon the Geneva gown for the alb and cincture, which are seen as more ancient and ecumenical.

German Protestant churches have officially reintroduced liturgical vestments since the 1970s, a trend termed "reclericalisation".[12]

Transition to civilian clothing[edit]

"America's Pastor" Rick Warren is known for his casual Hawaiian style shirts.

Evangelical and Pentecostal churches trend the opposite direction, doing away with distinct ministerial dress altogether. This has the effect of minimizing distinction between pastor and laity, encouraging a casual atmosphere common for the seeker sensitive movement.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Geneva gown". Oxford Reference. doi:10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095847763?p=emailaivcdastofje6&d=/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095847763. Retrieved 2 April 2024. The black preaching-gown worn by the early Reformed ministers, loose-fitting and with full sleeves. It is still worn by Presbyterians and other Calvinists.
  2. ^ jtreiber (22 October 2016). "Talar, Beffchen und Stola" (in German). Retrieved 2 April 2024. [The gown (from Latin: talaris vestis = ankle-length robe) is the black official dress of the priest.]
  3. ^ Lochner, Friedrich (2020). The Chief Divine Service of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church: Explained, and Furnished with Historic Church Melodies for the Preservation of the Liturgical Heritage and for the Advancement of Liturgical Study in the American-Lutheran Church (PDF). Concordia Publishing House. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-7586-6567-6.
  4. ^ The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian church. Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press. 2006. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-19-866268-6.
  5. ^ "Signs and symbols". Presbyterian Mission Agency. Retrieved 1 April 2024. The Geneva gown is a black robe, once commonly worn in public by those with academic credentials. The Geneva gown symbolizes scholarly training and learned preaching, a historical value and strength of the Reformed tradition.
  6. ^ Blacketer, Raymond A. (18 June 2015). "The Preaching Uniform". blacketer.org. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  7. ^ Hargrave, Seamus Addison (21 October 2018). "An Argument for the Wider Adoption and Use of Traditional Academic Attire within Roman Catholic Church Services". Transactions of the Burgon Society. 17 (1): 111. doi:10.4148/2475-7799.1150. ISSN 2475-7799.
  8. ^ a b c d Piepkorn, Arthur Carl (November 1966). "Lutheran and Protest Vestment Practices in the United States and Canada: A Survey" (PDF). Concordia Theological Monthly. XXXVII (10).
  9. ^ Bruggink, Donald J. (December 1988). "Preaching Uniforms; What to Wear in the Pulpit". Reformed Worship. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  10. ^ Gribben, R. "Liturgical Dress in the Uniting Church" (PDF). Assembly Commission on Liturgy: 2. Retrieved 1 September 2015. The origins of the Geneva Gown {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ^ O'Brien, G (2015). Christian Worship: A Theological and Historical Introduction. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-4982-3135-0. Retrieved 1 September 2015.
  12. ^ a b Bednarek-Gilland, Antje; Eberlein, Hermann - (12 December 2014). "CULTURES OF THE PAST: "The pastor's new clothes": Reclericalisation of Protestant clothing in German-speaking countries since 1970" (PDF). Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica. 15 (2): 33–55. doi:10.5604/20842937.1131972. ISSN 2084-2937.
  13. ^ Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): Theology and Worship – What about all the different clerical vestments?
  14. ^ Handbook of the Free Church of England
  15. ^ "What is United Methodist practice in wearing vestments in worship?". Discipleship Ministries. Retrieved 4 April 2024. The pulpit gown (usually black, but in more recent times commercially available in other colors) is connected to academic gowns worn in the medieval universities. It communicates gravity, learned bearing, and presence. The pulpit gown gained popularity in the twentieth century among those Protestant groups recovering their Reformation connections. The alb came to popular use in the late twentieth century in the post-Vatican II period, when Protestant churches reached back to early church liturgical roots and the emerging ecumenical consensus about worship.

External links[edit]

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