Oh my GAW, Pigeons!
So I got to church yesterday morning wearing this outfit:
Yes, it’s a maxi skirt! And I wore sheer, pretty ankle socks with the shoes.
However, when I got to church and put on my robe I realized that the shoes were the dorkiest things ever to wear with vestments and panicked. How did I not remember that my robe shows almost all of my shoes? How did I not realize that these adorable Oxfords, so great with regular clothes, would look totally inappropriate with my WomenSpirit gown?
Much to my relief, I remembered that I had a trusty pair of black pumps stashed away for just such a time as this. A bit too small and on way too tiny a kitten heel for the likes of me, but non-offensive for a preacher lady on a Sunday morning.
Lesson learned! Be a good scout and prepare for emergencies!
I have the same womanspirit gown (as I recall from your post, which encouraged me to get it…in black) and have found that I just take/have the right shoes (very plain satin-y finish ballet flats) and change into them when I put on the robe, for the very same reason. Sitting up in the chancel, those shoes are very visible! I do sometimes wear red flats with the red stole, but that’s a rare thing. To be fair, my now-retired male colleague did the same thing and put on black shoes with his academic robe, even when he wore brown or cordovan with his suit du jour. Who knew how many styling choices clergy make!!
My supervisor also has a WomenSpirit robe, both in black and tan/wheat. She keeps a pair of black pumps in her office at all times, and when she got the tan/wheat robe, the church paid for her tan pumps to keep in the robe closet as well. Smart lady, that woman!
It’s times like this that I am very thankful for the grace of a parsonage 50 yards from the church! People warned me that living in the manse next door would be awful, with folks bothering me all the time. But they don’t; they are very respectful of my privacy. And I have the crutch of proximity, so that as I waltz towards 60 and those annoyingly more frequent “senior moments,” I can go git what I done forgit.
I have ALWAYS kept a pair of black pumps in my office — at least I have since the time I got to church in totally inappropriate shoes.
On the otherhand, there is power in the image. One of the things that actually convinced me that I could go into pastoral minsitry was the mental image of a soman who did supply preaching in my home church back in the EARLY 70’s — I remembered seeing her walk into the church carrying her preaching robe and black pumps. For some reason it stuck in my mind and when I tried to imagine myself as a pastor, that was the image that sprang to mind. I thought, “If she could do it, I can do it.” I later found out that she had been the ONLY woman in her class at seminary. I consider her my mother in ministry.
Becky, I’m in my 30s and I feel the same way. Most weeks I return home at least once on Sunday morning.
Must admit, this sort of problem is totally strange to me.
Maybe because when I “gear up” for church services, wearing a pair of black, comfy yet stylish black shoes is as compulsory for me like wearing my robe.
Our motto in seminary was “no shirt, no black shoes, no service.”