Clergy Image Audit: Missouri DACA Action

Two Missouri clergy, one UCC and the other my Unitarian Universalist colleague (and frequent commenter here), the Rev. Barbara Gadon. I see one leader and one nice lady. To whom would you hand the bullhorn? Who looks ready to claim moral authority to speak on behalf of the DACA students threatened by the Trump Administration?
The suit conveys formality, respect, readiness to take professional action at the table with people in power. The other outfit conveys comfort and droopiness. We cannot show up looking like we happened to stop by on our way to yoga class. To do so is an expression of privilege and communicates casual engagement no matter how deeply we feel about an issue.

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Rev. Rob Lee In The Headlines: PB Image Analysis

This NPR story highlights what happened when our colleague, the Rev. Rob Lee, spoke up about his namesake, his heritage and white supremacy at a pop culture event.

I have a lot to say about why, in these times, parish ministers must be willing to clearly and honestly assess where there congregations are and to resign if they have indisputable evidence that their communities are not willing to embrace discomfort and humility together, grow in faith and understanding and be disciples rather than consumers or socialites.

This goes for the mainline white churches, most especially, but it also applies to all faith communities.

I think we can agree that what Robert Lee IV said on television was in no way controversial to anyone who is even remotely committed to anti-racism work. I am very sore at heart for his parishioners who supported him — and not just because he has freedom of speech, but because what he said was RIGHTEOUS and GOOD. He had an opportunity at an important moment in our nation’s history to redeem his name and to show that moral evolution through the generations is not only possible but a reality. Every day, I try to live in such a way as to fulfill the fondest hopes of my ancestors, but also to redeem their racism, ignorance and savagery. We all got it in our families, kids. Rob Lee happens to have it in a well-recorded family history that some still venerate, and that he has rejected. I think he used his opportunity very, very well.

Any big media moment featuring the pastor of a church will introduce anxiety in the system. I know this because I have had my own media moment when this blog attracted national attention. I was featured on the front page of the Boston Sunday Globe (over the fold), appeared on “Nightline” and several radio and television spots. The attention was more local but it was still a lot of exposure. I discussed every offer with my board of trustees and key trusted leaders, and we strategized together. They supported me, they handled the sputterings of more conservative parishioners, they granted permission for television cameras to be present in our worship service (we worked with the producer of “Nightline” on boundaries for the cameras), and we all rode it out together with a sense of curiosity, appreciation and even fun.

Twenty-first century churches must understand that the internet makes it very easy for clergy to have a non-local presence, impact and voice. We are all learning how this works together. When I interviewed for the parish ministry position I now have, I did a one-hour presentation for the congregation on the independent on-line ministry of PeaceBang. I explained what I was trying to accomplish through PeaceBang’s passion, humor, and sometimes caustic irreverence. I explained the difference in tone between blog (salon), Facebook (short form observances and devotionals) and Twitter (Wild West ideological shoot-outs/activism). People asked questions and the conversation was broached. They know they can always ask me what I’m doing, and they know that Victoria Weinstein, not PeaceBang, is their minister and belongs to them in a special way.

Now. All that said, let’s look at Rob Lee’s public clergy image at this moment of major exposure:

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This touched me when I saw it. There’s Rob in the midst of the glitter and outrageous frippery of the MTV Video Music Awards in his clericals and chinos. He is a guest at the show; he knows exactly who he is and does not feel any pressure to glam up his game. He didn’t even wear a suit. That’s an intentional choice and makes a real statement about humility and ordinariness. “I am a common man, I am a pastor,” is what this outfit says. “I have a simple message and I’m here to deliver it in my simple outfit.”

There is another element to Rob Lee’s outfit that is a clear signal about who he is: did you notice?

Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Well done, Rob. We see you. We see who you are trying to be, and we pray for your strength of spirit, good health and supportive friends and associates as you move through whatever comes next.
Be in touch if there’s anything I can do for you besides bodyguarding you on Twitter.

Kiss of peace, PB

Waistcoat and Clericals: WERK IT

Hello, lovelies! I am BACK! I was in Israel and Palestine and then Paris for eighteen days, and as you can imagine the pre- and post- trip busyness was REAL.

I did find time to attend an ordination last weekend which provided me fodder for a few posts, and I know I owe many of you responses to great e-mail queries. Mea culpa! I’m still here for you!

Now, let’s talk about how I got the Rev. Isaac Everett to pose like a male model for me. I didn’t! He just naturally knew how to strike a pose. He is fab.

The thing to note here is the vest, or waistcoat, as the Brits call it (pronounced “westcut” if you’re fancy).

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I think it adds a really nice touch because it fits and matches. This isn’t just about throwing on a vest. It is about putting together a polished, monochromatic, grown-up look. The blacks match. The vest fits around waist and chest. The details are attended to. His hair is done in a current style. The good reverend is groomed and impressive. I think Isaac could dress up the shoe a bit with this ensemble but his are fine.

Here he is with the ordinand, the newly-minted Rev. Sam Teitel laying on some mutual blessing. Sam is also really beautifully dressed. I think that his stole is gorgeous, and lately I feel an extra pull to more monochromatic looks. One of the participants in the service, an extremely tall man, was wearing a hugely voluminous robe that was literally a coat of many colors — blazing, actually — and it struck me as upstaging, domineering and actually garish. That’s a personal opinion. Ordinations are celebratory and it’s appropriate to wear colors, of course (I just learned myself that red is the traditional color for ordinations in my tradition, which I had not previously had any idea about. How’d I miss that?). However, the year 2017 does not feel to me like a time for the sporting of borderline wackadoodle frippery. His robe felt Carnivalesque to me, and Lord knows we’re not in any Carnivale right now. In fact, we’re in Lent, liturgically and nationally.
HOWEVAH, I’m sure there were many who thought the vestment was wonderful, happy and fun and entirely suiting the occasion.

I am not going to say “here’s some hot man-on-man blessing action” because that really would be too irreverent even for PeaceBang, even though that’s exactly what I said to Sam and Isaac on Sunday.
Warmest wishes to the new minister and to all of you.

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(Nice hem job on Sam below)

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Rock That Collar: A New Clergy Style Blog

I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

So many of you have asked about a capsule wardrobe for clergy and Rev. Catherine Healy has answered your prayers. She has written a handy-dandy guide with which I most ardently agree (except for a few little details) and BEST OF ALL, she is planning to launch a new blog on the subject of clergy image and fashion.

My dearest pigeons, PeaceBang has been the lone blogger on clergy image and attire for over ten years, and she is very, very tired. Not tired of speaking to and with colleagues about our work, but tired of feeling pressure to repeat the same messages and finding fresh images to illustrate those points. I feel that it really all is in the archives at this point.

I love writing about the work of ministry and you can’t help but have noticed that my posts in the past couple of years have been far more often on the arts of ministry than on specific on clothing and grooming. All told, I have authored almost 2,900 posts and read and interacted with many thousands of comments. I have answered hundreds of personal e-mails and occasionally picked up the phone to talk you through an interview or important moment.

I am happy to still do this if you want to keep reading, but I am thrilled unto pieces to know that more voices will be part of this conversation. PeaceBang is old now. She will always have an independent on-line ministry of some kind, but she wants to write a book. She wants to combine her two blogs and design one PeaceBang portal for all her readers to access her thoughts and ideas. She wants to do congregational and clergy consulting as time permits. She wants to continue to ministering to ministers. She will always consider herself to be the Stage Mother to clergy.

Above all, of course, she is a parish minister who, right now, is deeply absorbed in a very exciting and challenging time in her congregation, developing a big initiative and also working hard on social justice concerns.

She congratulates Ms. Healy on the start of what she hopes is a brilliant new venture and would like to take her out for coffee, since we live pretty close.

Allons! Kiss of peace, dears. Can I stop referring to myself in third person now? That gets really tiring.

#FuckThisShit Advent Devotional

I want to send a soul shout-out to the pastors who are writing the #FuckThisShit Advent devotional, a resource I became aware of a couple of weeks ago on Twitter.

The editors of this project are
Jason Chestnut @crazypastor
Tuhina Verma Rasche @TVRasche
The writers are,
Alisha L.Gordon
Matthew David Morris @MattMorris
and A’Driane Nieves
and lots of guest artists contributing posts.
And there is a related hashtag of
#RendTheHeavens

As you can imagine, the creators of this resource are taking a lot of heat for the NAUGHTY LANGUAGE being used. Because, as you know, religious leaders should never be shocking or offensive in communicating the Gospel. Obscenity should never be used to express the obscenities committed by the powerful agains the vulnerable. Well-behaved clergy should pray with our eyes to the skies in ways that don’t really, actually disrupt the social order of empire. When our prophets are murdered, clergy should stand by with hands respectfully folded while history and empire sanitizes and censors our prophets and weaponizes them against their original communities of empowerment.
Fuck that shit.

Readers of this blog know that it in addition to being a place to find footwear recommendations, has been a ten year study in clergy image and changing clergy archetypes. I have been very interested in the use of cussing by mainstream religious leaders on social media for some time, and have begun to swear more freely in my own writings. I am grateful to the #FuckThisShit team for leading the way in using profanity to stir up attention to the demands of the God with whom we profess to be in covenant.

I use profanity as a sound effect, a percussion section in a musical piece that I am singing about the reality in which I find myself with all of you.
I use profanity as a pinch of strong pepper thrown into the sizzling skillet of whatever dish I am cooking up that I dare not serve bland out of respect for the people I am trying to feed.
People who don’t like pepper can get fed at another table.

I applaud and support my colleagues Jason, Tuhina, Matthew, A’Driane, and all their guest artists for modeling the new clergy voice I feel is desperately needed in this time of complacency and empty gestures of fleeting outrage.
I am fed from their sizzling skillets. The writing is beautiful.

Lord, for these loving voices raised in wholly appropriate terms for these times and your far-too lazy and comfortable Church, we give thanks.
For the leaders who patiently respond to angry emails protesting profane language from people who remain silent and inactive about profane public policy, we give thanks.
For those who object to “thoughts and prayers” as a sufficient response to horrors unleashed on God’s people, we lifg up our thanks and praise.