Now Hear This: Rock concert breaks out at church
If the little old ladies of the First Methodist Church in Quitman, Ga., where I grew up as a boy were alive today, and saw what folks are wearing to church, they would faint. I mean they would flat fall out, and it wouldn’t be the presence of the Holy Spirit that caused them to lapse ? rather the clothes, or lack of, that some people are wearing to church on Sundays.
Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not standing in judgment of what anybody chooses to wear to the Lord’s house (because folks judge my wardrobe every day). I’m just trying to understand how and when it all changed.
Back just a few years ago, Sunday dress was well defined. The men wore suits, (with a tie) and the women wore (Sunday) dresses. So, what happened? Who started the trend of “casual” wear.
I promise you they still dress up at the Quitman, Ga., (population 5,000) First Methodist Church. On second thought, maybe I better call my brother and ask him what he’s been wearing to church lately. But if he tells me Quitman First Methodist has bought into this new trend, I’ll faint!
Have you noticed what some of the preachers are wearing on Sunday?The fashionable choice is Tommy Bahama. For the less trendy it’s Polo. The choir robe industry has got to be pretty upset these days. Have you noticed? Old Navy, and The Gap have taken over.
I need to be careful. Don’t want to offend anyone. But help me here. In your opinion are bellybuttons OK in church? What would the little old ladies of the Quitman First Methodist Church think? Don’t even go there!
I’ll admit I’m a little old fashioned. It’s the period of history in which I was born. Mama used to take us kids shopping twice a year. Once in the fall for school, and again in the spring for Sunday clothes, and that included Sunday shoes (not to be worn except to church and other very special occasions). And, mama better not catch me wearing those Sunday shoes to school!
I went to church last Sunday, and a rock concert broke out! I’m not 16, and I don’t know any of the words to the new Hip-Hop church music. Whatever happened to “The Old Rugged Cross,” and “Bringing in the Sheaves”?
About the only place I can get my fix of the old standards is to watch Bill Gather on TBN. I’ve got five or six of his video tapes, and I’m willing to loan them to any church in need of reminding that “I’ll Fly Away” is as good as it gets.
I do miss those early days at Quitman First Methodist and the little old ladies, who gave me a hard stare when I giggled, and talked too loud, and mama pinching me when I’d fall asleep. No chance of nodding off in today’s big churches where the music blows the doors off, the neon lighting is high tech and the dress code is strictly Miami beach.
Here’s a thought! Let’s declare the first Sunday of each month, Dress Up Day at church, where at least one chorus of any classic hymn is sung — just for the kids!
(Hope Hines is a television sports reporter and a Nashville personality.)