The Robe Function

Pastor robes have become an essential part of most churches. You can find plenty of reasons why churches continue to make use of this age old tradition.

Basically, church robes are a great way to help identify the pastor or minister and separate him from the rest of the congregation. When the members of the church look at the minister, they do not see the person, but instead see the individual that represents the office of the Lord.

The robe functions by diffusing the person and his individuality and instead highlights the special position that the minister is called for which is to represent Christ.

Think of how police officers and judges don their own uniform. They do this because they are committed under oath and act accordingly as the main representative of the state.

Another reason for the robes is that it is used to symbolically represent the Lord when the pastor wears it in front.

The robes are not meant to separate the priest from the rest of the members; it simply works as a way for the people to distinguish him as the person functioning under the office of the Lord.

Moreover, the robes also help to go ahead and add a touch of reverence to the services. There is no denying that whenever the pastor wears a robe in front, people pay attention to the service and what is being said.

The tradition of donning pastor robes has been around for a long time and so far continues to live on. Despite the objections, it is a holding firm as a tradition and hopefully will continue on for a long time.

You can find many kinds of liturgical vestments available that most church denominations wear and pastor robes are just a single piece.

Another example of a liturgical piece is the alb. This piece of garment is usually worn by people from the Catholic, Anglican and several Protestant Churches. More often than not, the color of the alb is usually white; it goes up to or near the ankle and commonly held by a girdle.

The clerical collar is another piece of Christian vestment. This is a piece that’s easily recognized more than the other kinds of vestments that the church has.

This is actually a detachable collar that is fastened using two buttons and is placed in the neck area. The color for this is almost always white.

However, it would still depend on the position of the individual as well as the denomination they belong in. The cloth used for the collar is usually cotton or linen.

Clergy stoles are another important and popular piece of clerical vestments used by a majority of Christian churches. The stole is a band of cloth like a scarf, created from silk or cotton and placed over the robe.

The center part of the stole lies at the back of the neck and the two ends are left to hang in the front. These are either secured together or left as it is.

There are a lot more vestments that are used by clergy members and each of them has a special purpose. Pastor robes are only one form of vestment that is donned by a member of a clergy.