Lutheran Worship
Adult Bible Class
July 12, 2026
Opening Prayer
Communion Vessels
Flagon – vessel with a handle, spout, and lid used for
pouring liquids (not for drinking them)
Paten – a small, shallow plate or disk to hold consecrated
bread
Ciborium – a vessel used to hold the bread for communion.
Palls – a stiff square cloth that covers the chalice, also a
white cloth used to symbolize baptism when placed over a casket at a funeral
Corporal – a cloth upon which the communion elements rest.
Fair Linen – symbolizes a burial shroud, covering the communion
ware, often decorated with 5 crosses.
The terms pall, corporal, and fair linen are often used
interchangeably.
Napkins
Aesthetic Precedent for Clergy Clothing
Exodus 28 & Leviticus 8
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Note v. 2 & 40 – “for glory and for beauty.”
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V. 9-12 – Bearing the names of the sons of
Israel in remembrance
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12 stones on the breastplate – symbolic
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Urim and Thummim – authoritative and prophetic –
v. 30, bearing “the judgment of the people of Israel on his heart before the
LORD regularly.”
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V. 36-37 – “Holy to the LORD” on the turban
What about the New Testament?
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Revelation 4:4 – twenty-four elders in white
garments and golden crowns.
The Uniform
What does a pastor wear?
There is a saying, “The clothes make the man.” What is true
in that observation? What is false?
Influences Sacred and Profane
The Apostles wore … clothes.
Vestments find their beginning in Roman clothing – including
decorations that display authority and office.
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"As often as the bishops would
partake of the Mysteries, the presbyters and deacons shall
gather round him clad in white, quite particularly clean clothes, more
beautiful than those of the rest of the people." - Canons of Hippolytus,
4th Century
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"We, too, ought not to enter the Holy
of Holies in our everyday garments ... when they have become defiled from
the use of ordinary life, but with a clean conscience, and in clean garments,
hold in our hands the Sacrament of the Lord." - St Jerome, 4th
and 5th Centuries
By the 1200s, there was a clearly defined system of
vestments and clothing for clergy to differentiate them from the laity.
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Bad reasons for clergy to wear distinctive
clothes?
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Good reasons for clergy to wear distinctive
clothes?
Clergy Clothes
The Clerical Collar and Clergy Bands
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Pre-1400s similar to judges, academics, and
magistrates
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1400s-1800 – lace collars / “ruffs.”
o
Some were so ornate that in 1624 Pope Urban VIII
banned them and required an unadorned white linen band.
o Protestants added “bands” – 2 ribbons that dangled down onto the chest
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1840s – Anglicans wore black coats and white
neckties to distinguish themselves from other professions.
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Early 1865 – Dr. Donald MacLeod, Church of
Scotland
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Dog Collar vs. Tab Collar
What does the collar symbolize?
Shirt color?
Robes
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Cassock
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Surplice
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Alb
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Geneva Gown - Academic
Liturgical Accessories
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Crosses and Crucifixes
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Stoles
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Chasubles
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Copes
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Birettas, Zucchettos, Mitres, and other hats
What About the Laity?
What does “Sunday Best” look like?
What principles might we think of when we dress for church?
What about head coverings? 1 Corinthians 11:2-16
- Some hold
that this is a cultural practice.
- Context
matters – Corinth was a troubled church.
- It is
intended to be a countercultural sign of respect and humility.
- Jewish
practice of the time had men covering their heads for prayer, too.
- This has
been the way for much of history.
- Colossians
2:16 – urges us to reject judgment on religious observances.
- Several
places in the O.T., God condemns performative religious observances.
- The
Freedom of a Christian – all things done in faith are good. All things done in
rebellion are evil. What is the custom and style where you live?
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