DRESS IN CHURCH

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1930, Page 7

DRESS IN CHURCH

SERVICES FOR SPORTSMEN.

Whether it ia right. or ■ wrong to ,ap*. , pear in church in tennis flannels or plus fours is a subject discussed in the-Janu-ary number of the Church Gazette for the Diocese of Auckland in- an editorial ' article on “Holiday and Worship.” . ■■“ There is really no qiiestio’n to answer in our opinion,” states the article.- “It is purely a matter of the heart, If my chief Sunday occupation is going to be amusement and I go to church, first just to salve conscence, then 1 naturally regard it as a nuisance to have to change my clothes. But, if my attendance, at < church is a real recognition of the claims of God upon me, if I go to church because I want to honour Him and be a witness to the faith that is in me, and if I am therefore content to let amusements take a properly subordinate place, the mere question of dress will not arise at alh • . . “The appeal to ‘sporting' people to come to a ‘special’ service dressed as they please seems to us to lower the ideal of public worship, and to turn- the- service into a sort of entertainment, provided for their special benefit; it"is an admission that their Sunday amusements are necessary for them, and that God and His claims are secondary, and they are asked to be good enough to patronise God for a few minutes before they begin their real Sunday pursuits, The parson becomes the entertainer and the congregation the audience. -Of course, in reality the congregation should be the performers, and the audience— God Himself. The -whole matter turns on whether people come to church to worship God, or whether they come in a patronising spirit to listen to a sermon; the only question is one of motive, and the clothes we wear may be taken, as a general rule, as some sort of indication whether our attendance at church is an act of patronage or an act of worship.” ■ .. ,