Rev. Harlan G. Vanden Einde is pastor of the Oakdale Park Christian Reformed Church of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

From a southern subscriber comes a series of questions, from which I select this one as being of most interest to our readers: “What meaning has the gown used by some ministers in the pulpit in this New Testament dispensation?” The author of this question refers to Exodus 28 where the Lord gave directions for the clothing of the priesthood, but the questioner suggests that has been fulfilled and abolished in the sacrifice of the Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

We do not have, either in tradition or in practice, an officially prescribed clerical garment. Most likely we never will, for the minister’s clothing does not belong to the essentials of public worship. And in that sense, we are free from the ceremonial forms of the Old Testament with their detailed prescriptions concerning priestly dress.

But that does not mean that we should be indifferent to the way in which a minister dresses when he leads public worship. Since there is no uniformity in practice among us, it seems that little careful thought has ever been given to this subject. We generally allow absolute freedom of dress on the part of the clergy, assuming that they will use good taste and wear clothing appropriate to their position and function, and to the nature of public worship.

It is true that we must rule out the principle of the ceremonial significance of ministerial clothing on the pulpit. It is also true that we must rule out the principle of a distinctive dress for ministers as if they stand above the community of believers in rank and dignity. But even with those two principles cast aside, I would like to suggest that the robe is an appropriate form of dress for the clergy in the pulpit. I say that for a couple of reasons.

First of all, the minister is not just another speaker addressing a weekly gathering of a convention or a business meeting. He stands before the people of God as a servant of God, called to bring them the Word of God. Let him be robed, not as a sign of rank and dignity, for he is a servant, but as a reminder to himself and the people that as God’s servant, he is charged to speak out of serious study and from a wisdom sanctified by the Spirit’s direction. This is not to say that that cannot be accomplished in a regular business suit or even a sport coat; but such dress does little to remind us of the uniqueness of the occasion of public worship.

Secondly, there is, apart from the ceremonial significance of the priestly robes in the Old Testament, another kind of symbolism in the robe, It serves to hide the minister and set forth the office. And that is our concern—and God’s—in the ministry of the Word, isn‘t it? No minister stands in the pulpit in himself or for himself. He is an instrument, a voice. speaking God‘s Word. The people are not interested in his opinions or ideas, but in what message this ambassador of God will bring. Let the individuality of the human person be blotted out as much as possible, and the office with which he comes from God and speaks the revelation of God be emphasized. We robe our choirs; why then be content to have the minister dress in a regular business suit?

I would like to conclude with a quotation from an article written by George Stab which appeared in 1952 in the Reformed Journal, and in which he also spoke favorably for the use of the robe by the minister: “. . . we know that there are more essential garments for the minister. God looks for him, we should remember, to be clothed with piety, humility, love, and learning, with priestly wisdom, prophetic strength, and royal courage. Or to put it another way—if the minister be fully clothed with the Word and Spirit of truth, he is clothed best and as he should be. And yet, it is better, too, if the external garment comport with that best.”