Welcome to UUism! | Vestments

Last year I ran a series that I called “Welcome to UUism!,” where I answer some of the more common questions I’ve been asked about our faith.

This month I thought I’d write about vestments, as I’ve been asked questions about stoles these last few months.

Vestments are liturgical garments and articles that clergy wear. Vestments are primarily associated with Christian traditions, and as Unitarianism and Universalism come from Protestant Christian traditions, this includes UUs. (I have said before, and maintain, that UUs protested Protestantism so hard that we left.)

Still, there are signs everywhere that we were once Christian, including with regard to clergy garb. In some congregations, it is tradition that clergy robe during worship. Clergy also robe for weddings, memorials, ordinations, installations, and other times we might call sacred, when we are performing or participating in religious duties and rites. Given that we do not come from “high church” traditions and given how comparatively non-hierarchical our tradition is, our vestments mostly revolve around robes and stoles, as well as the clerical collar.

Some clergy, especially women and non-binary folx, are grateful for robes, as they prevent congregants from critiquing their clothing, bodies, and so on. I’ve personally not a problem with critiquing (and consider myself very fortunate) and it’s too hot in Florida to wear a robe — although some colleagues here do this regularly.

There is regularly “much to do” about wearing stoles, which are the most common vestment worn by UU clergy. Many believe that stoles should only be worn by ordained ministers, although some will accept seminary students wearing stoles for weddings and funerals. Some of us are much more flexible around this, like the dear colleagues who asked me to wear a stole during my colleague’s ordination.

Stoles for ordained clergy hang behind the neck, and resemble a yoke — a reminder of the power we have and hold, our commitment to serve, and the authority granted to us to lead. It’s important to note that within Unitarian Universalism, the only body that has the right to ordain a minister is the congregation. Congregations vote to bestow this honor on those they have deemed worthy to receive it.

UU stoles aren’t often liturgical, but I’d venture to guess that many of them have particular meaning to the minister. The red stole with the flaming chalice I wear often is my ordination stole, a gift from the UU Church of Kent, my home congregation, and the First UU Church of Youngstown, my teaching congregation, both of which ordained me.

The last item is the clerical collar. UUs in parish settings generally don’t wear these often, although I have taken the practice of doing so at times. Collars are often worn during actions of public witness, though — so rallies, protests, and the like — and sometimes also during rites of passage (weddings, memorials, etc). Chaplains may wear clerical collars in their work, depending on the setting and the chaplain’s preference.

As always, if you’d like to learn about something, let me know — I’d be glad to write about it.