Me and my Blue Shirt

So what does your decision say regarding the black shirt I wear on a regular basis (I do switch out with a gray shirt and a light yellow occasionally)? There have been a few stares and even a comment or two, and I have not been called forth to give the benediction of late. Probably some of my ward members figure its senility. I occasionally wear dark blue Levi’s and white tennis shoes as well (always with a nice sports coat and tie). Did you ever wonder if half the males showed up with colored shirts one week, what leadership would say (or not say)?

There is an old saying, “When you are 25, you worry what folks think about you, when you are 50, you don’t give a damn what they think, when you are 75, you realize they never thought about you to begin with (ha!). I can say with complete conviction, I will not be called to a leadership position anytime soon in my dear ward. So far, no tears have wet my pillow…

SD, while I don’t think what you did must be done by anyone else as part of their stage/state development, I am glad to read about it for your own growth. Whether or not this lasts is less important than the realization you reached about your own ability to make theses types of decisions for yourself – not just because of cultural pressure.

I agreed without reservation to wear a white shirt, tie and coat when I was called into my current calling, because that is part of the requirement in this stake (unlike the last stake where I served in this calling) – but I do so only when I am in a meeting where I am identified directly with that calling. Iow, I dress that way on Sunday and to any official meetings that involve me in that calling. Otherwise, I wear whatever I feel comfortable wearing – or whatever I feel is appropriate to the gathering.

I generally go HT in “business casual” attire (dress slacks and a collared or polo shirt); I attend most weekday ward activities in jeans and a t-shirt or polo shirt; I attended the Seminary in-service for teachers yesterday in a deep red shirt and tie; etc.

I have no problem with the official explanation of why young men who participate in the administration of the sacrament should wear white shirts and ties, if possible. My only concern is when that very narrow request is “magnified” and mutated into the idea that all men should do the same, even in the administration of other Priesthood ordinances. Anything that builds a hedge about the law for no critical symbolic reason concerns me, even as I acquiesce and follow publicly in many cases.

Awesome post. I have been wearing a white shirt with thin black stripes many weeks for the same reasons. I believe Heber J. Grant started the move to LDS business attire, and it has only become more restricted. I personally have a problem with the white shirt being the uniform of the priesthood, because that smacks of priestly vestments.

I was actually in a bishopric for three and a half years and kept a full beard the whole time. I had a few people make snide comments, but no one in an official capacity called me on the carpet for it. I kept it clean and nicely trimmed. I do understand the reasons for being clean and well-groomed.

SD:

“such as bad laundry planning” and “I may even hold a fireside some day where the entry fee is you have to be wearing a colored shirt!”

Dang, outed again. I am such a geek when it comes to getting my shirts laundered prior to the Sabbath (though I like the mafia look – matching black tie, diamond stud pin).

I love your idea regarding the fireside. If I ever hold one, it will be topic which will have folks staring, such as, HOW MUCH DID YOU CONTRIBUTE TO THAT LOSER PROPOSITION 8, or WHO WILL FOLLOW PRESIDENT JAMES J. STRANG AS PROPHET, SEER AND REVELATOR? I once taught a gospel doctrine class who had 120 people show up most weeks. We had to meet in the cultural hall. It was obviously pre-coordination days, when a instructor had vast agency in what direction to lead the discussion. I miss those days…

When I wear my white golf shirt and 100% polyester tan slacks (I don’t do ties) to Sacrament meeting I feel like I’m poking everybody in the eye. But at the Valley Unitarian Universalist Congregation (my current coping sustenance), I feel like I fit in whether I am wearing a tie or flip-flops.

Just to be precise, as the resident parser:

The Church **policy** that Elder Holland (right?) articulated is that the sacrament should be treated as a sacred ordinance like baptism and the temple ordinances, and, therefore, the Brethren **encouraged** those who administer and participate in that ordinance to wear a white shirt **if possible** in order to model the attire at baptism and in the temple worn to participate in those sacred ordinances. It is an attempt to encourage members to view the sacrament in the same way they view baptism and temple ordinances, as a direct result of seeing much of the membership move away from a reverence for the ordinance.

All the other applications of the white shirt policy are extrapolations by individual leaders, no matter how those leaders present them. The idea that a white shirt and tie (and suit coat) is “the uniform of the Priesthood” is cultural, not doctrinal – and not even Church policy.

I would knee with a humble man, in his Levi’s and worn boots, and bless the Sacrament any day.

Exactly. As would I.