Kilt to church?

[CameronCat]

Getting back <gasp!> to Mark C's (the OP) original question ...

I'm in exactly the same boat as you, sir; an infrequent kilt wearer. Our mainstream Lutheran church does a full-on Christmas Eve service -- candlelight, organ, choirs, the works. Like your congre, our attendees tend to spiff out their dress a bit. Several years ago I decided to try my kilt for the evening, with coat and tie etc. Heads turned but I got nothing but fine comments and compliments. Both pastors loved it. One year when my wife was very ill I skipped the kilt for Christmas and had everybody asking where it was.

I highly recommend you choose the kilt for church. You won't regret it.

[IanDMorrison]

Go fer it! If the tartan you want to wear during Christmas has red, white, and green, even better.

I used to see a man dressed in a kilt at Christmastime at the church I grew up going to. Never introduced myself to him but he always looked sharp.

[SaintTGM]

I wear mine to church several times a year, namely for St. Andrews Day, as has been mentioned in this thread, and the Sunday closest to April 6, which is Tartan Day here in South Carolina. I also attend a Presbyterian church, a denomination which regularly features "Kirkins o' the Tartan" services, so the kilt itself is not new to most people. I have never received anything but complements and interest.

[Father Bill]

Reading, fellows, through the OP's comments, what happens at Anglican, Roman, United and Presbyterian type churches has no bearing whatever on his situation. I recognize the style of that church and validate his concerns. Not something our examples can moderate.

[Steelkilt]

Merry Christmas Eve! I am Antiochian Orthodox, and I haven’t worn my kilts to Church services for the sake of not wanting to draw attention to myself, but I have worn them to work around the Church property with fellow parishioners. No one seems to mind, just questions about the tartan and am I Scottish (Nope, I just love the kilt! Hey, no one’s perfect!). I did have a friend at Church ask the undergarment question, but I reminded her that her husband wouldn’t appreciate it if I made the same inquiry.

[cms1528]

Late response but as a Baptist I understand you’re concerns. Fundamental Baptist have a holier than thou thinking about everything and many times they are only interested about how they appear as opposed to what’s really in their heart. Many Baptist think they’ll be the only ones in heaven based on the ways they really misinterpret God’s word especially about dress. They live to point the finger at others yet they hide their addiction to pornography and other vial things. At least that’s been my experience over the last fifty years.

Christ knows your heart and that’s all that matters. So wear your kilt with pride as I do and let the Hittites mumble under their breath their dismay.

[Father Bill]

Okay, we're getting really close to the edge of the rule on religion. Whatever my thoughts, it's time to chill out, folks lest somebody flag something here. Somebody still might choose to flag, so.... chill folks, and Merry Christmas.

Father Bill
Forum Moderator

[Jock Scot]

As some of you will know, I don't do the religion bit, but I do visit a church on occasion for weddings and funerals. I don't wear the kilt to get noticed, or for effect. I wear the kilt because that is what some Highland Gentlemen do. I don't wear the kilt outwith Scotland as a rule, but there have been rare occasions when I have. I am conscious that the kilt is not appropriate for all occasions at the church for a variety of good reasons and if in doubt, I wear a suit and it bothers me not. In passing, there is one Scottish Christian community, particularly in the Western Scottish Highlands and Islands, where the kilt is not regarded as suitable for church.

As a friendly observation on this thread and other past threads on similar topics, I do feel that the kilt is being worn on occasion to church with scant thought for others. Yes! I know! There will be some huffing and puffing going on after reading this post with indignation, justifications and hurt feelings coming to the fore. But, BUT, if you think about what you are doing and bare in mind that even in Scotland many traditional kilt wearers think carefully about the appropriate-ness of their kilt attire before venturing forth to church. Appropriate? Most certainly at times-------and sometimes it's not.

[Dr Bee]

if you think about what you are doing and bare in mind that even in Scotland many traditional kilt wearers think carefully about the appropriate-ness of their kilt attire before venturing forth to church. Appropriate? Most certainly at times-------and sometimes it's not.

I have followed this thread with interest but refrained from comment so far because its context has seemed to me to be mainly, though not exclusively, North American. Now Jock Scot has finally brought the issue into the context of Scotland with his interesting post - a post written from the stand-point of a kilt-wearer who attends churches on occasion but is not a regular Sunday worshipper - if I have understood him correctly.

If I may put my cards on the table, I should tell you that this post is written from that stand-point of a former Church of Scotland clergyman, a regular Sunday worshipper at a Church of Scotland, a kilt-wearer of course, and someone who does not regard the kilt and its accoutrements as 'fancy dress' but as a truly excellent way of being dressed on any occasion. Now, as a Church of Scotland clergyman (and I cannot speak for the Free Churches, the Episcopalians or the Roman Catholic Church - all of which are deeply embedded in Scottish culture) I can say that I NEVER ever batted an eye at the wearing of the kilt in the Kirk - and I do not expect anyone now to bat an eye at me when I do so. The Kirk for long had a tradition of wearing one's 'Sunday best' to worship and this was taken to the extreme in two congregations where I served where the elders wore morning coats and striped trousers when they were on duty, which meant some of them every Sunday and all of them on Communion Sundays - now this is the only circumstance I can think of where a kilt might have been frowned upon - if it had transgressed against the elders' dress code - and I would not have been doing the frowning. That apart, for ordinary Sunday worship, Holy Communion, Baptisms, weddings and funerals and all the extraordinary events such as ordinations, dedications, etc., the kilt was always considered a proper and respectful way for a gentleman to dress - and it still is - in the Church of Scotland.

Now, bearing in mind that Jock Scot might have been writing of his experiences of Churches other than the Church of Scotland, I have to ask him to please expand upon when it is not appropriate to wear the kilt in Church.

[Father Bill]

An ecclesiological observation here folks:

The OP has identified a very specific type of church. Different denominations have very different worldviews. Telling him what happens in other denominations isn't really much help.

For our Scots, the type of church he's describing likely best compares to what you likely call the "Wee Frees". For everyone else, it is its own category. What I do in an Anglican church has less than zero bearing on what he might do in his. In fact there could be some really negative feelings between some members of the two denominations, so the opinion of one is worthless to the other.

Now, what should he do? I'm an Anglican priest so I don't know. I only know that he should consider carefully what's important to him, and how it might be received and that I wish him well sartorially and theologically.
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So, to the OP: what happened at Christmas, just out of curiosity.