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To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
-I Corinthians 12:7
The origin of robe-wearing for pastors harkens back to the academic robes European students wore at university in the cold classrooms and hallways in their frigid climates. If you’ve seen the more recent Sherlock Holmes movies, you may remember Professor Moriarity wearing his to teach. It’s symbolic for us to wear them, as it is with judges and graduates and faculty of our education in the field we serve. As pastors, we typically have another layer of symbolism in the vestments we wear to match those on the pulpit and communion table, as well as banners.
For most of the year, we wear green to symbolize Ordinary Time. Mine was a gift from my first congregation with material from Ghana, which reminds me of the global nature of the Church and my calling. It’s often a conversation starter. Next most common is purple, which we wear for the four weeks leading up to Christmas, known as Advent, and the 40 days prior to Easter, known as Lent. We wear White for Christmas, Easter, communion, and Trinity Sunday (which happens to be this week). Lastly, red is for Pentecost and any time we ordain or install church leaders. We’ve decided to wear it this summer, not arbitrarily, but to indicate the special time in returning to Church worship and the work of serving folks in-person. A former colleague suggested calling such seasons, “Extraordinary Time.”
Red, our color of Pentecost and of responding to God’s call as gifted by the Spirit, is a liturgical color of a call to action. I hope you’ll join us this summer as we return to the campus and building for worship, education, VBS, and service, or online for some of the same as you’re able. It’s an extraordinary time. We’ve done a lot in the year of quarantine, but we are ready to do more. The second full week of June will be our annual Mission Week, and I hope, if you’re able to do so, you’ll join us in serving. Let’s go.
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