Memorial Day has come and gone, and so the summer season has begun: out come the white shoes and purses, the shorts and sandals; off come the robes. The choir ditched theirs last week, and bowing to peer pressure, I did as well. As a matter of fact, for most of my career, I have unrobed (disrobed?!) for the summer. It's the heat, mostly. When you serve small country churches, air conditioning is a rarity, and even when it's there, it rarely cools the sanctuary enough to keep me comfortable in my Tropical Wool Bentley and Simon Clergy Robe - hold the velvet panels, please.

In my first church, the heat of the summer and age of the congregation prompted the Session to ask me to remove my jacket at the beginning of worship, and invite all the gentlemen to do so as well. They never did, which left me the only guy in shirtsleeves. They also stood up when I entered the sanctuary, but that's a story for another day...

So why do preachers wear robes in the first place? We have established they can be uncomfortable; they can also be dangerous (several times I have walked into my hem going up stairs), and they're expensive, so much so that I wore a...a...well, a deceased predecessor's robe for more than fifteen years. And it's not like there's a Presbyterian law that says I have to wear, well, anything, really. What's the deal with clergy robes?

The truth is, we religion specialists have worn distinctive clothing since prehistoric times: animal skins, amulets, feathers all served to set the shaman or priestess apart from the crowd. In the book of Exodus, one can read detailed descriptions of the garments to be worn whenever the priests were serving in the temple.

Of course, there were no priests in the early church; leaders simply wore their Sunday best, which in the Middle East were robes. But time marched on, and styles changed - it wasn't long until the barbarians brought pants to the civilized world! Of course, church leaders have never much liked change, so they continued wearing robes. Over the years, the robes became vestments, acquiring symbolic meanings and becoming more colorful and elaborate.

With the coming of the Reformation, pastoral attire really did change. Reformers, such as Calvin, were strong advocates of an educated clergy, and the black robe of the scholar came to demonstrate a pastor's academic qualifications; likewise, the tabbed collar showed a pastor had the approval of their church court to preach. 

Over time, the robe began to serve a more practical function. By covering the minister's street clothes, the robe was thought to direct the focus of the congregation away from the preacher and toward the preaching; the robe also helps emphasize the office and de-emphasize the individual. That's why I've worn a simple black robe since I started preaching.

Except, of course, when it's hot.