I learned in church today

[Sullyute]

I learned that you are supposed to wear a white shirt when performing priesthood ordinances. I was chastised by my bishop for wearing a light blue shirt to bless my baby.

[CardiacCoug]

I learned that you are supposed to wear a white shirt when performing priesthood ordinances. I was chastised by my bishop for wearing a light blue shirt to bless my baby.

Oh brother. So ridiculous -- I will never understand how somebody could do something like that and not feel like the exact type of Pharisee that Jesus condemned.

As far as blessing/passing the sacrament goes it says that a white shirt is recommended but specifically not required -- not sure why a blessing would be any different.

[cougjunkie]

The mother of 5 that drags here youngest, 3 years old, up to the pulpit (the kid is struggling to get away) to tell the ward what the 3 year old "would like to say" and ends in "he bares his testimony in the name of..."

No, she's not a recent convert. She should know better. She's doing it because she is an uber-Mormon.

When this kind of thing happens, I have to wonder what an investigator has to be thinking. I mean, hell, I sit there in wonderment and I've seen this kind of thing before....

The brethren sent out a memo about this that our bishopric reads every fast Sunday. If they are not old enough to give a testimony without help they are asked not to and encouraged to share in other places like home and primary class. We never have kids go up with parents anymore.

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[The_Douger]

I learned that you are supposed to wear a white shirt when performing priesthood ordinances. I was chastised by my bishop for wearing a light blue shirt to bless my baby.

Did he also berate the deacons for not holding their free hand behind their back while passing the sacrament?

[Uncle Ted]

Oh brother. So ridiculous -- I will never understand how somebody could do something like that and not feel like the exact type of Pharisee that Jesus condemned.

As far as blessing/passing the sacrament goes it says that a white shirt is recommended but specifically not required -- not sure why a blessing would be any different.

Yes, from the handbook...

Ties and white shirts are recommended because they add to the dignity of the ordinance. However, they should not be required as a mandatory prerequisite for a priesthood holder to participate. Nor should it be required that all be alike in dress and appearance. Bishops should use discretion when giving such guidance to young men, taking into account their financial circumstances and maturity in the Church.

https://www.lds.org/handbook/handboo...3?lang=eng#204

Who is Scully's bishop to judge his financial circumstance and maturity in the church?

[jay santos]

Yes, from the handbook...


https://www.lds.org/handbook/handboo...3?lang=eng#204

Who is Scully's bishop to judge his financial circumstance and maturity in the church?

Agree with you. But kind of ironic you ask who is he to judge, when he is ordained as a judge in Israel. Unless you meant that ironical.

[byu71]

Yes, from the handbook...


https://www.lds.org/handbook/handboo...3?lang=eng#204

Who is Scully's bishop to judge his financial circumstance and maturity in the church?

Those who struggle financially do not have to live the "higher laws"? I wish I had known that while attending BYU. I probably could have gotten a waiver and been able to have my hair touch my ears.

The money I would have saved on haircuts would have really helped.

[clackamascoug]

Yes, from the handbook...


https://www.lds.org/handbook/handboo...3?lang=eng#204

After reading that section of the handbook, it reminded me of a funny Sacrament Prayer. Recently, a kid had a bad cold, and had the green sniffles. His condition was the perfect combination of mucus in the sinus that when sniffed inward would make the loudest noise possible. So he kneels at the table and gets 5 words into the prayer, and does this gigantic sniff into the microphone. Now everyone in the congregation is left wondering if this kid washed his hands in the last 24 hours before breaking the bread they have to put in their mouth. Back to the sniff. So the kid sniffs a big green louie, and apparently it came loose into his mouth, and he's in the middle of the prayer, and he keeps going, but you can tell its still in there as he keeps the words right. After the prayer the kid looked to the Bishop for the approval, and the Bishop chuckled and shook his head "yes."

Shirts were worn, and they were white.

[Uncle Ted]

Agree with you. But kind of ironic you ask who is he to judge, when he is ordained as a judge in Israel. Unless you meant that ironical.

I didn't know that Scully lived in Israel.

As a side note the YMP in my ward keeps white shirts and ties in the scout closet for the deacons to wear. A number of the boys are not in very good financial situations and usually show up to church wearing t-shirts.

[Bo Diddley]

I didn't know that Scully lived in Israel.

As a side note the YMP in my ward keeps white shirts and ties in the scout closet for the deacons to wear. A number of the boys are not in very good financial situations and usually show up to church wearing t-shirts.

I'd completely forgotten until this moment that we had extra ties in the Bishop's office growing up just in case.

In the military branches I've been through, there has been no dress code at all. It's not uncommon to see someone passing the sacrament in a t-shirt. Nothing distracting about it at all.

[byu71]

It is interesting how many of us practice our own brand of "being mormon". Guidelines aren't always useful since they just mean, "practice your own brand" if you are told so by the spirit.

I remember as a kid what a big deal it was to become a deacon. You got a white shirt and a black bow tie and all the deacons passed the sacrament in a white shirt and black bow tie. This went on for years and through different Bishops. Then one day a GA, probably not the first to attend our ward, was present. He told the Bishop to knock off the practice as we weren't "ritualistic" in our dress like the Catholics.

[Donuthole]

I learned that you are supposed to wear a white shirt when performing priesthood ordinances. I was chastised by my bishop for wearing a light blue shirt to bless my baby.

Ugh. I hate this issue mainly because, while I love my dad very much, he was (and is) the worst kind of white-shirt nazi. My dad was YM president when I was a deacon, and white-shirt compliance was his crusade. He went back and forth on this issue with the bishop, who was of the position that he wasn't going to require the YM to wear something and that he was more concerned with their attendance than their attire (a perfectly reasonable position, quite frankly). I was only a deacon, but I remember there were two priests in our ward at the time who, mainly to spite my dad, wore all black every week when they blessed the sacrament (they were NKOTB wannabes, with baggy satin dress shirts, 5-pleat slacks, and black ties). Though he had been released about a year prior when he was called as a high councilman, I distinctly remember by dad's almost celebratory reaction when Jeffrey R. Holland gave his "May I suggest that wherever possible, a white shirt be worn by the deacons, teachers, and priests" talk. He feels vindicated, even though the church has since made it clear that it is not a requirement.

Sadly, being raised by a white-shirt nazi turned me into a white shirt nazi for an extended period of time. As a young man, and even as an RM, I remember looking down upon guys who didn't wear white shirts to church. Interestingly, it was my time at BYU (and my aversion to daily shaving) that caused me to actually analyze the issue and realize that wearing a white shirt, facial hair, earrings, etc. is no biggie. Sort of sad that it took me that long, but better late than never. I still wear a white shirt on Sunday more often than not, but I certainly don't think twice about someone who doesn't. I will not, however, stop judging guys who wear short-sleeve dress shirts to church.

/Confessions of a former white-shirt nazi

[Uncle Ted]

It is interesting how many of us practice our own brand of "being mormon". Guidelines aren't always useful since they just mean, "practice your own brand" if you are told so by the spirit.

I remember as a kid what a big deal it was to become a deacon. You got a white shirt and a black bow tie and all the deacons passed the sacrament in a white shirt and black bow tie. This went on for years and through different Bishops. Then one day a GA, probably not the first to attend our ward, was present. He told the Bishop to knock off the practice as we weren't "ritualistic" in our dress like the Catholics.

Hmm... Someone should have mentioned scout uniforms with the GA and asked if they need to get rid of those as well.

[SoCalCoug]

My wife likes me to wear white shirts to church, and so I do. I used to wear blue shirts quite often until we started getting serious (we were in the same ward). I started sitting with her and her family, and her father always wore a white shirt and suit, and so I started doing so.

I have since stopped wearing a suit to church (unless I give a talk or something), and that's sort of our compromise - I don't have to wear a suit, but I wear a white shirt.

It's really not a big deal for us. It's something she wants, so I don't mind doing it.

Don't take this to mean she's an uber Mormon, though.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

I always wear a suit, rarely a white shirt or tie.