All Saints'

[Mysticwolf]

I'm Eastern Orthodox, and I wear a kilt virtually every time we celebrate the Divine Liturgy, whether on the Lords Day or a weekday. I admittedly am covered by my cassock and sticherion during the service itself. There are a number of others who attend kilted and it doesn't appear to cause any distractions.

[bikercelt1]

I will be wearing a kilt at Mass on All Saints Day, but then I always wear a kilt so that won't be a surprise to anyone. In my parish I am a Lector, Cantor, and I lead music with a small ensemble, all while kilted. I read Matt's blog and certainly respect his position and opinion. I wrestled with this a bit myself when I first began wearing the kilt but I decided that the people who are distracted or concerned about me wearing the kilt are going find some reason to be distracted or concerned about me whether I'm wearing a kilt or not. I've been doing contemporary music at Mass for 30 years. I've distracted and concerned a lot of people in that time.

As to a reason to wear a kilt on All Saints day, the roots of the feastday are celtic. Dressing as a celt seems appropriate. If this is a step toward making the wearing of a kilt part of your normal celebration of the Mass go for it. If you are just looking for an opportunity to dress up then maybe your focus is on the kilt and not on the feast of All Saints. You'll have to look deep in your own heart, only you can know if your focus is right.

Good luck with your discernment.

Jamie

[arrogcow]

I grew up in a church where you wore your best clothes to church (suit, tie, etc.). While as an adult I slipped some, I still try to dress well, and that for me is a kilt. I do understand some others reluctance, but I have not found kilt wearing in church to be overly distracting. One, I have never been asked "The Question" .

But I also know that it still confuses people. I haven't been to church unkilted in over 5 years, but still once every few months I get asked if I'm playing today (don't play). Other than that, my church could care less (or is supportave). In fact last Dec, I was Joseph in the Christman pagent while wearing a kilt. I was also an usher for several years (not now).

Adam

[Graham]

I'd never considered All Saints Day until this morning when it was mentioned in 'Celtic daily light', a book I refer to each day.

I'm not Roman Catholic, but it seems good to me to remember the saints gone by, "known and unknown". I was kilted because I have nothing else to wear

[Deil the Yin]

I was just going to post a thread regarding this subject because I am also planning to wear my kilt to mass this evening in honour of All Saints Day! In fact I frequently wear my kilt to church, Saint's Day or no. Or rather I should say I'm going to mass today because it is All Saints, and I'm also going to wear my kilt. At any rate...

Having been a kilt wearer for something on ten years now, church had always been a place I felt it was very appropriate to wear my kilt. But when I read Mr Newsome's blog post (see link below) a few months back, his reasoning really put me to the test in this matter. Though I am Episcopalean, I have very similar views to Mr Newsome regarding proper behaviour (including attire) in church, and so it took me several weeks of wressling with the question of wearing my kilt to church before I felt I had come to terms with the subject.

Though I have the utmost respect for Mr Newsome's standpointe, I must disagree in the end with his final opinion. At the same time I think that this is not a black & white or cut & dry issue either! What it boils down to in my opinion is wheather or not you are a constant distraction to others during the service. Yes, you will certainly be noticed when you come into church wearing a kilt, and if you go to take the sacrements etc, but otherwise the kilt worn in an appropriately conservative (and some might say traditional) manner is no more distracting than a very attractive man/woman coming to the service. Just because I'm smashingly good looking do I have to wear a shroud just in case someone is distracted during the service by my oh-so-striking good looks? I think that's taking it a bit far... Of course you can still be badly dressed in a kilt, and being badly dressed is just being badly dressed- kilt or no kilt.

I wholeheartedly believe that the kilt in and from its traditional origins is a modest and absolutely respectable attire for the church service. Of course, as I said, I dont think this is a black & white issue, so there are certainly exceptions. Primarily I see these exceptions in how you wear the kilt, and your attitude and purpose for wearing it to the service. I think one should wear his kilt to church most importantly to honour their heritage (both Scottish and Christian) and show appropriate respect of their place of worship. If it is worn to get attention, yes- you've rather missed the pointe. And as with any form of dress, it can be taken too far for the instance of a church service, eg I dont think full on period dress with great kilt, broad sword etc is appropriate for a church service (unless maybe you're at a Renn faire).

Regarding the consideration for the inclinations of fellow parisioners, ie are they easily distracted to start with or prone to gossip and whisper about other parisioners during service etc, I believe this matter is simply put to rest by your behaviour while attending the service in your kilt. Despite the fact that you may be a pointe of interest because of your kilt, if you are behaving appropriately, ie sitting quietly & paying attention, earnestly following the service etc, you will be leading by example and actually a GOOD influence on the less inclined parrisioners and attendees! PLUS you will be a boon to the perservation and promotion of your Gaelic heritage!

So wearing the kilt to church is a good thing!

Here is a link to my blog posting that KiltedCodeWarrior mentioned:
http://blog.albanach.org/2006/04/why...or-easter.html

The context there is wearing the kilt to Mass on Easter, but the same basic principles apply. It explains why I, as a Catholic, do not make a habit of wearing a kilt to Mass (and why there are certain exceptions, such as Weddings).

Oh, and Cirthalion, Catholics certainly celebrate All Saints Day as well! Where do you think Anglicans got it from? :-)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled kilt discussion....

[M. A. C. Newsome]

Since this thread has been getting a lot of interest, I wanted to further clarify some of my thoughts.

Martin writes:

If something is right six days a week, how can it be wrong or sinful or unlawful on Sunday?

This is not a question of the kilt being right or wrong, lawful or unlawful, and certainly not sinful! In fact, I addressed this in my blog entry, when I wrote:

This is certainly not about asserting my "right" to wear a kilt. I'm not out to prove a point here. Frankly, my regular wearing of the kilt has never been about proving a point. I have the right to wear a kilt, and I have the right to choose not to wear one. And I also have the duty to prudently choose when and when Highland attire is appropriate.

This is not a question about the kilt being "right" or "wrong" but rather, "is it prudent to wear the kilt in this given situation?"

And people will answer that question in different ways. A lot of variables apply. One may be your religious sect. The sacramental theology of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church (of which I am a member) gives rise to certain considerations on my part when I attend Mass that a Presbyterian or a Pentecostal, or a Baptist may not have.

Another variable may be location. As McClef indicated in his post, he has a different reaction to his kilt when he wears it to church in Wales than one might expect in, say Alabama for instance.

A lot of people have been focusing in on my desire not to be a distraction for other people -- which is a good desire, of course, but you can take it to extremes. But the other side of the coin has been largely ignored, and that is that I, myself, don't want to be distracted from the Mass.

As I said in my blog post on Easter, I know, from experience, that I will attract a lot of comments and questions when I wear my kilt -- mostly all positive, mind you! But this will be a distraction for me. We all know that when you wear your kilt out, you attract a certain amount of attention -- its part of the charm of wearing the kilt. And in most contexts that is perfectly fine. But in this particular context, it is attention I would rather not have. So I choose to "blend in" more. So there is a selfish motivation, as well!

I also have another perspective, I suppose, in that I deal with kilts on a daily basis as a part of my job. So having people ask questions about my kilt on Sunday morning is a bit like grabbing your doctor when you see him at church to ask him about a rash on your arm. Most people don't want to "talk shop" on their days off, let alone when they are worshipping on a Sunday morning.

So this gives me a different perspective from other kilt wearers, and another consideration.

Also, I failed to mention that I serve as a cantor at my parish, and the way our church is laid out, I am right up front where everyone can see me. In a lot of Catholic Churches the chior or cantor is unseen, in a chior loft. But I'm right next to the sanctuary. And it's a constant concern of mine to try, as much as I can, to fade into the background so people stay focused on the altar and it doesn't turn into the "Matt Newsome" variety hour. How I dress is a part of that.

This is what I mean when I say we all have different considerations.

In the end, though, it is a matter of prudential judgement. In your church, in your location, given your situation, is wearing a kilt prudent or not? That you have the "right" to wear the kilt is unquestioned. But you also have the right to choose not to wear it if, in your judgement, other attire would be more appropriate.

[Deil the Yin]

Well, I must say that if I were in Mr Newsome's shoes, I would also feel inclined to not wear my kilt to Mass on Sunday. Definitely an issue relative to one's individual situation... and like I said, not cut & dry by any measure!

Cheers yall!

Wesley

[McClef]

So I take it that as a Cantor you don't wear any kind of liturgical vestment such as a cassock Matt? Over here many do or are usually dressed in choral robes.

These would obviously hide the kilt during the Mass in any case as is the experience of our clerical brethren.

I can't speak for the familiarity of the good folk out in the boondocks of Alabama with our favourite garment whether in or out of church. If I were to visit there and wear one I would be a visitor and not part of the community, a ship passing in the night so to speak.

As you say, it's not about the right to wear but more of a Pauline "all things are lawful for me but not all things are expedient" line of thinking. Have you canvassed the thoughts of your priest or people from the congregation? I would guess that those who see you kilted on other occasions would be familiar with the sight and therefore not find it distracting.

Surely people are paying attention to you for your voice rather than anything you are wearing.

But of course the final decision must be yours.

[macwilkin]

I have echo Matt's comment about "talking shop"; as a former Civil War reenactor, I sometimes will be asked why I am not reenacting that period any more -- and the answer is because I worked at a Civil War Battlefield as a park ranger for three years (and still do on the odd weekend), and I didn't want to do it on my days off! :mrgreen:

Granted, I haven't lost my love of books, even though I am a librarian!

T.

[KiltedCodeWarrior]

This has to be one of the best threads on Xmarks in a while. Very thoughtful posts, good expression of viewpoints, and acceptance of others views. And I want to thank Matt for clarifying his views. I understood some of them from the original blog, but his expansion here has been most helpful.