Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've never understood dressing up for any religious house of worship.

Why would any God even care? Cleanliness, I understand. But specific or dressy clothes? That's for humans, not any God..

I felt the same way about mosques, growing up Muslim - why do women need to cover their hair when praying or going to a mosque? Why on earth would God care at all?

It's all performative. I know that all religion is basically performative, but it's wild to me how people care about these things.

I think it goes hand and hand. You're setting the tone that this is something to take seriously and worthy of respect. It's once a week for an hour or two. Why is it so hard for people to demonstrate some level CARE?

Disagree. Cleanliness has a "purification" element that I get with regards to religion. Clothes are just exterior. A facade. Only people care about facades.

In my experience, not just in attending church, but also as a retired public school administrator, cleanliness and hygiene are correlated to tidy clothing. They go hand in hand. It doesn't cost any extra HHI for you and your kids to comb their hair, for your husband to wake up 10 minutes earlier to have a clean shave, for the boys to wear a collared shirt and tuck it in, for the girls to wear a dress and brush their hair. Why would kids take church and religion seriously if their parents clearly don't?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know I sound both old and old fashioned but I love seeing clean cut families put effort into their appearance. Boys in chinos and a tucked in shirt, dad in a blazer or suit (or at least a collared shirt under a nice sweater), mom and gals in dresses. Everyone's hair styled nicely. It displays such an appreciation and respect for the church and the service. We'll probably never return to that but semi-casual is still nice to see. However, the hooded sweatshirts, baggy fleece pants... untucked shirts... kids wearing t-shirts under a jacket... sporty sneakers... I hate it. Often parents are dressed nice but the kids look like they just rolled out of bed. It's not a wealth thing, it's a caring thing.

I don't care how they show up. As long as they are there!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, but I just feel sorry for them.

That’s so sweet of you. Why?

Because they don’t know any better, and everyone is judging them. They kids don’t know why everyone is staring at them.

People don’t stare or judge at my church. Is being so judgmental standard at your church? I feel sorry for you because you are so far from G*d.

Anonymous wrote:When my kids were little I dressed them up for church. When they started dressing themselves they rebelled. I decided it wasn't a battle worth having. I dress nicely, my husband dresses nicely. My teens actually do dress with care- just not in the clothes that I would necessarily consider 'church attire.' If you have an issue with how my family is dressed at church, please bring it up with me directly, not on DCUM. The only 'ask' i have is that you have this discussion with me in front of one of the pastors at church- they need to know how you feel.

Anonymous wrote:I know I sound both old and old fashioned but I love seeing clean cut families put effort into their appearance. Boys in chinos and a tucked in shirt, dad in a blazer or suit (or at least a collared shirt under a nice sweater), mom and gals in dresses. Everyone's hair styled nicely. It displays such an appreciation and respect for the church and the service. We'll probably never return to that but semi-casual is still nice to see. However, the hooded sweatshirts, baggy fleece pants... untucked shirts... kids wearing t-shirts under a jacket... sporty sneakers... I hate it. Often parents are dressed nice but the kids look like they just rolled out of bed. It's not a wealth thing, it's a caring thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This whole thread needs to be contextualized. OP- are you white? There’s a different calculus if not. What denomination are we talking about?

Catholic
Episcopal
Methodist/Presbyterian/UCC/mainline Protestant
Non-denominational mega church
Mormon
7th day Adventist

I feel like that will help people understand where you’re coming from…

Pls explain why race is a factor.

Anonymous wrote:Agree and as much focus people place on college admissions, they need to pay more attention to appearance. Being well dressed and put together is just as important professionally or more so than where you went to college.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care one bit. No one needs to be dressed up to attend church.

Why did everyone dress up for church in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s? You don't think that looked much nicer? You don't admire a random good looking family wearing their Sunday best if you see one on a Sunday afternoon? Come on, we all do.

This erosion of effort and appearance and coming to church in casual clothes seems to be a relatively new phenomenon.

I can say this, my current church has a much higher attendance of teens since they can dress comfortably. Just because things were done in the past doesn’t make a change bad. There will always be those who dress up. Mind your own business.

Back in the 90s my parents used to fight my brother every weekend to get him dressed for church. It made everything super stressful and definitely didn't turn my brother into a church goer.

I'd bet anything the children who are allowed to come to church like slobs are exponentially more likely to cease church attendance when they can (age 18, college, moving out of the house). If their parents never took the church seriously, why would they? It doesn't take money to be tidy, shave, brush hair, put on a collared shirt, tuck your shirt in, and iron your slacks.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t care one bit. No one needs to be dressed up to attend church.

Why did everyone dress up for church in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s? You don't think that looked much nicer? You don't admire a random good looking family wearing their Sunday best if you see one on a Sunday afternoon? Come on, we all do.

This erosion of effort and appearance and coming to church in casual clothes seems to be a relatively new phenomenon.

I can say this, my current church has a much higher attendance of teens since they can dress comfortably. Just because things were done in the past doesn’t make a change bad. There will always be those who dress up. Mind your own business.

Back in the 90s my parents used to fight my brother every weekend to get him dressed for church. It made everything super stressful and definitely didn't turn my brother into a church goer.

I'd bet anything the children who are allowed to come to church like slobs are exponentially more likely to cease church attendance when they can (age 18, college, moving out of the house). If their parents never took the church seriously, why would they? It doesn't take money to be tidy, shave, brush hair, put on a collared shirt, tuck your shirt in, and iron your slacks.

Anonymous wrote:Agree and as much focus people place on college admissions, they need to pay more attention to appearance. Being well dressed and put together is just as important professionally or more so than where you went to college.