Now I need YOUR advice, chickadees!!
Having seen a scapular in a secular setting yesterday, I really, really like the idea of having one for liturgical wear — particularly for baby blessings, during which a stole can present a problem (flopping around when holding the child, etc.).
Being too busy today to research the scapular, can you tell me if there would be something deeply inappropriate about wearing one as a Unitarian Universalist (if you’re not familiar with our tradition, we are heirs of the far left wing of the Reformation, and are congregational in polity. My congregation was gathered in 1642 during the Puritan “moment” in New England)?
I do know of one UCC colleague who wears a beautiful woven scapular to preach and preside in.
Speak to me of scapulars, oh mine dumplings. And yes, I already read the Wikipedia entry.
Here’s my take. I wear gown, collar and bands as an inheritance from the Reformed Churches in Western Christianity. But I have no problem with any person in religious leadership in the West — or of a Western tradition — using the most general vesture that reaches back to an early tradition, say, pre-medieval. In practice, this is a large, draped white garment like the alb, surplice or — in a pinch — a cotta. (Had I to do it all over, I might have gone cassock and surplice.) To the ordained, add a stole, though I personally only wear one when presiding at a sacrament. I believe you, Vicki, wear an alb and stole.
My problem with the scapular is that it’s a monastic garment rather than a clerical garment. If there was a Unitarian Universalist monastic order — the Order of Abraxas was close, and you might make a case for the various ministerial study groups being a kind of third order, but I wouldn’t — some kind of distinctive vesture might be OK. But it sounds like your problem is more logistical.
While a bit fussy about the visible form, I’m less fussy about manufacture and what cannot be seen. So I have no problem with velcro or polyester blends. And those who have worn commercially-produced vesture know it’s a bit like assembling scaffolding anyway.
So I have two alternate suggestions.
1) A cincture to hold the stole in place.
2) drapery weights in the stole.
Yes, I think what you really need is a cincture to keep the stole from flapping.
http://www.kencollins.com/glossary/vestments.htm
That is a link to a Vestment Glossary done Rev. Ken Collins. I have found his website to be very informative. Not just words but pictures also. He does show the stole under the cincture though I have not seen that in my tradition (UM). Hope this helps a bit.
As someone from a liturgical tradition (Anglican) I would be very confused if I walked in and saw you wearing a scapular – I would assumed you were a monastic. It would make no sense to wear it in the kind of context you describe. I like the suggestions made by others, though, to fix your problems with the stole.
Hello again! I’m a UM too, who always wears her stole under her cincture! Ken Collins’ site has a lot of good info, but notice that all the illustrations are of men. Women clergy, it seems to me, have had to either adapt themselves to vestments or adapt the vestments themselves. Sure, the scapular may not be “correct” in some settings, but if it solves a logistical problem and does what vestments are supposed to do, then I say go for it! BTW I used Gail Bird’s link simply as an illustration–there are lots of options.
I’m Independent Catholic and not as familiar with UU tradition, but scapulars are usually given as part of the habit during the profession of vows to a religious order so they are very meaningful to those who are monastic or religious—and they convey a very specific message and meaning. They designate a person (lay or clerical) who is under specific vows, so scapulars aren’t really clerical vestments. Because of the deep meaning of the scapular to those in vowed religious life, I’d advise against wearing one for convenience. My vote is for a way to keep the stole from flapping.
I’m a provisional elder in the UMC (a commissioned minister, not yet ordained) so I wear a scapular when I vest as I’m not yet entitled to wear a stole. That is the only reason it would strike me odd since you are ordained 😀
I wear a cincture over my stole as well to keep it from flapping. However I don’t like how it makes my butt look bigger. [LOL!! – PB]
I rushed with excitement to Ken Collins’ site because that was the name of my first UU minister. Alas, it is not him. Some interesting stuff there, though.
Actually, my first minister’s name was Ken Collier. They say memory is the second thing to go.
Never mind.
I confess I have several scapulars I wear instead of stoles. I originally bought several from Gail Bird, I thought they just fit a woman’s body better and I was still in my more radical feminist mode and thought it was a more feminine symbol of an apron which symbolized service as much as the stole or yoke. And ordained ministry is service.
As the years have gone by, I really have more appreciation for history and liturgical tradition and regret that choice but I love my scapulars and I’m in a congregation that really doesn’t care so I still wear them. Don’t know if that’s helpful or not but another perspective.
I half-wonder if women — particularly curvy women — aren’t especially badly mis-served by the width of Protestant-marketed stoles and cinctures.
The stoles are as wide as the velvet panels on my gown and I’ve seen cinctures made of rope so thick they look like they were made to moor the Queen Mary. The stoles must dimple over a bustline. Thinner stoles and a pleasantly-scaled cincture would have to help.
This is a huge help, gang, and thank you. I do have a cincture and will wear it over my stole. I have an alb, too, and I just need to remember to bring it to church for christenings. Thank you for alerting me to how weird it would be for me to wear a scapular. The one my UCC colleague wears is all woven with beautiful colors and it doesn’t look monastic at all (in that it’s not plain, and the fabric seems different), so I still love the look on her. But I’ll stick with stoles — and anchor them with a cincture when necessary. Blessings.
I bought my alb at Murphy Robes here in Chicago. It came with a shorter and thin cincture which I really like. The cincture is comfortable to wear also.
I agree with Scott that the tradition cincture is just too much for many women as well a number of men. Some of the stoles also seem to overwhelm those male pastors who are slender. Al least…that’s what I have noticed.
I’m a cincture wearer, so I’ll add a few comments about that.
First, I think a stole looks much nicer when held by a cincture if it’s held somewhat loosely by only one (slightly looser) “layer” of the cincture [alas, I find myself somewhat at a loss for words here…I need to demonstrate!]. The way I tie my cincture, the rope is x3 in front (x2) in back, and the stole is only under one of these.
Second, I do the cincture in a way that does not require it to be super tight; if it’s cinched up too much, my rear end protrudes far more than appeals to me!
Third, one of the other tricks to not having a cincture emphasize the backside is to make sure the fabric of one’s alb is very smooth in both back and front; I gather any extra fabric right at the sides or tuck it under the pleats in back (2 offset ones, not a single center back one).
@Betsy. Like this http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Stolepriest.jpg — if not with a crossed stole?
After reading all the ‘wear a stole’ responses I’m a bit embarrassed to champion the scapular, but there you are. Scott makes an excellent point about how we erm . . . more generously endowed people are ill-served by garments designed for men and the stole is no exception to that. What I like about wearing a scapular is that it obviates the necessity for any kind of belt, and the attendant problems arising therefrom – wrinkles, overheating, and looking like a knish tied in the middle. While I can’t specifically speak to the appropriateness of a scapular in the UU tradition I note that they’re becoming a more universal vestment than they used strictly to be. The current Almy catalogue shows a choir scapular on page 169, and Womenspirit has some lovely ones. http://www.womenspirit.com/Products.aspx?CATID=3 Appropriate width for shoulder measurement and drape of fabric are what make the garment work. A local Renfaire costumier can help with construction and design. In the end I think it depends on how you perceive your role in the ministry and your own selfimage as a clergywoman.
PB, dearie,
I’m not sure how many UUs would know the history of scapulars, but one never knows–UUs tend to be readers of many things. Seems to me it would be simpler to stick with stoles under a cincture. One thing about the butt-sticking-out problem– might it help to use a sash, wrapped firmly but not tightly, instead of a cord for the cincture, and also to pleat the main garment as Betsy describes?
@PaganBuddy. I think you’ve got something there. I’ve been looking for the so-called band cincture in use for albs, but without luck. (You see them for cassocks.)
See http://www.murphyrobes.com/index.cfm?event=product.display&catid=41&prodid=3135
But I’d go thinner: more belt than sash.
Dear PB: even Presbyterians sometimes wear scapulars- altho, sadly, I have seen them in Presbyterian PLAID (they call it a tartan, but it’s a plaid, darnit!) not a look I’d like to emulate! I think they make sense- esp if they are more washable than a dry-clean only alb/stole/gown, etc!
Would it be cheating to combine the idea of weights with some good old fashioned safety pins? I think that pinning at the back of the neck and at the edge of the upper curve of the bust combined with the weights suggested might solve your flopping problem. All of the stoles I have experience with have multiple layers; I’m envisioned the pinning being only through the lining and with very small pins. I wouldn’t necessarily try to do this with decorative or jewelry type pins, but I think that if they’re only structural that it might work. I’d be curious and interested to see a post and discussion on the taming of the stoles…
I’m wondering why you would wear an alb and stole. The stole is the symbol of your ordination, so I get that part. The alb is a eucharistic vestment. In my tradition, the stole would be worn over the cassock and surplice in a non-eucharistic setting. That doesn’t solve your problem with the stole flapping, though. [I do wear a alb for Communion, but otherwise I wear a robe and stole. – PB]
Do look at http://www.womenspirit.com. Lovely! I’m a Disciples who served in an Episcopal parish, obviously not as priest in charge. But even before then I had purchased an alb. My student church gifted me with the traditional “Susannah Wesley” preaching gown for my ordination (cokesbury.com). While I love both, I prefer my white alb and stole in part because it is much more flattering to the figure; and since we Disciples have communion every week, I’m always in a communion service.
Greetings. I am a Licensed (not ordained) Local Pastor in the UMC. Because I am not ordained, it would be in appropriate for me to wear a stole. However, I can wear a scapular over my robe and I also wear a cinture. I wear the scapular for sacramental days and ‘special days”. Thanks for the links as the scapulars have been hard to find. My home church made mine for me.
FYI, Judith Walker-Riggs wears a scapular.