(or: God Has a Really Timely Sense of Humor…Doesn’t He?)
So, I decided not to wear a head scarf to church this week. It was too hot to consider wrapping my head in something and the dreads were just fine pulled back in a ponytail. They have a few beads now and are looking pretty rad.
It should also be noted that I wore a green shirt, denim skirt and my totally adorable green velcro flats. The ensemble was cute and comfortable, albeit decidedly non-traditional.
And of course this week, we would happen to have both a one-year memorial service AND a ‘churching’ service (where mom and new baby are welcomed back to church 40 days postpartum). The church was absolutely packed and mostly with people I didn’t know.
And of course, this would also be the week to recognize the graduates from Sunday School and elsewhere.
And of course, I would have to come and stand in front of the whole church, as both a graduate and a Sunday School teacher.
Oh well. Better to get all of my green-sneaker-wearing and dreadlock-sporting strangeness out there in one fell swoop, you know? And It could have been worse: I could have been wearing a Jesus is my Homeboy T-shirt*. That’d probably explode their brains.
* just kidding – I would never wear anything like that. EVER.
we had similar sundays! a lady was baptized this morning…and i refused to take my headscarf off due to blue hair. :) it was warm…
oh…and i refused to take my coat off too due to a new tattoo. yikes!!
btw. your dreads? very cute!!
You have dreads? Picture?
Sounds like a cute look, but I can see why the congregation might be shaking their heads.
How come the mama and baby have to stay away from church for 40 days?
ROFLMAO. that’s too funny.
I don’t see what the problem is. As long as your skirt is long enough etc., you are respecting the dress tradition of the Church.
Yeah, it’s not really a “problem” so much as highly unusual. People in our parish dress VERY nicely and VERY conservatively (think stereotypical WASPS, without the P ;-) ) For instance, all of the high schoolers I stood next yesterday were wearing either dresses or suits and ties. I knew I would stand out a bit, but I wasn’t planning on having it so advertised :-P
I may not be getting this entirely accurate, but this is the way I understand it:
The 40 day ‘break’ from church is another Jewish carryover, mirroring the 40 day period after birth before a Jewish woman could present herself at the temple (to be purified once more). Given Christ’s sacrifice, the Church doesn’t teach that a women is somehow “unpure” for those forty days, so now the tradition is that women are to stay home and focus on their recovery and on their baby for forty days. Kind of like a babymoon ;-)
The service itself is beautiful. Prayers thank God for helping Mom and infant to survive childbirth and blessing them each as they re-enter the church body.
That sounds lovely. :)
I know what you mean. Fortunately, peoople in Cincinnati, including in this parish, are relatively relaxed in their dress code.
What brand o’ church do you go to. Sounds like an Orthodox church, but one never knows.
We churched our daughter after about 10 days since our friend’s kiddo was getting baptized that deay and my wife didn’t want to miss it.
Yup, it’s an Orthodox Church of the Greek persuasion.
You said your dad is a pastor, same church or different one?
My dad is a Lutheran pastor but I and my wife are Antiochian Orthodox (though my wife’s family is Russian Orthodox)
My dad is an Evangelical Protestant pastor (though he is more and more disenfranchised with Evangelicalism and leaning strongly toward the East). I was raised Ev.Prot. but converted to Orthodoxy a little over two years ago.
I do wish there was an Antiochan parish nearby. It’d be nice to worship in English every once in awhile :-)
A lot of the OCA churches worship in English as well. I know my mother-in-laws church does in NJ.
There is a Greek church in San Francisco that I think worships mostly in English, which I suppose is somewhat unusual, but entirely.
Here is San Jose we are lucky to have quite a few choices, though even one of the Antiochian churches in the area is predominantly Arabic, so they worship about 50/50.