Dresses and Suits to Church on Sundays are My Favorites to Wear

I grew up in a time when you put on your best clothes to go to church. There were everyday clothes and your Sunday best. Because I worked in a job requiring me to wear jeans and shirts, I loved dressing up on Sundays. I didn’t wear makeup, as we were required to scale ladders from floor to ceiling, so putting on dresses and suits for Sunday was the cat’s pajamas. You couldn’t tell me that I didn’t look good! Sunday was my day to put on the Ritz!

I became an ordained minister in 2005, and as an associate minister in several churches, I was required to wear robes in the pulpit and dresses or suits on Sundays when I did not preach. Today, people dress anywhere from picnic wear to jeans and shirts to come to church. It bothered me because I was taught that dressing up on Sunday was a show of reverence to the Lord. I understand that the invitation to salvation isn’t about what one wears but what is in one’s heart and how one treats others. So, it is fine how others dress. No judgment and no condemnation.

During the week, I wear business casual to teach at a local college, and the rest of the time, I wear either jeans or exercise clothes. So, Sunday is the only day for me to wear my favorites, and although I seem overdressed to some people, I feel like myself. It makes me feel like I am being honest with my beliefs by dressing in my Sunday best. I love dresses and suits, and as an ordained minister, I feel obligated to dress in a manner that makes people think that I am about my Father’s business. What we learn as children remains a part of us, which means that dressing in my best is a sacrifice to God in reverence to His grace and mercy toward me.