Ask the Elder: What is that colorful scarf Pastor Kristin wears?
Photo: Gerald Farinas.
This question was asked by one of our young congregants as the Sunday liturgy ended and we started blowing out candles. But it’s an interesting question even for some of our adults.
One of the most obvious things that make a minister stand out are the types of vestments she or he wears during a church service.
While ministers of different Christian denominations wear different things, one of the oldest pieces of apparel is still used by almost all mainline churches: the stole.
The stole
A stole is a vestment made up of a long band of colored cloth. It is worn around the neck and drapes over the minister’s shoulders and hangs down their front.
The stole is usually a color that matches the church season: green for Ordinary Time, blue or purple for Advent, purple for Lent, red for Pentecost, and white for special feast days like Christmas and Easter.
In the Presbyterian tradition—just like the Catholics, Lutherans, and Episcopalians—the stole is only worn by an ordained minister of the Word and Sacrament. This is the minister who is allowed to perform the Sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist or Communion.
In old times, the stole was made of wool—to represent being a shepherd. This matches the Biblical imagery of us being sheep in need of a shepherd to guide us in our Christian life. Nowadays, the stole can be made of any fabric and comes in many designs.
The stole can have deeper meanings.
It is a symbol of what is called priestly authority. These people are chosen by God to be teachers and can do things that God needs direct help with—like blessing the bread and wine so it can be used in Communion.
Some historians say the stole came from an older Jewish tradition called the tallit. It is a shawl people use to cover themselves when they are praying to God.
Others say it represents the towel used by Jesus to wash the disciples’ feet at the Last Supper.
The tippet—or preaching scarf
I am not an ordained minister of the Word and Sacrament—so I am not allowed to wear a stole. I am an ordained elder—a person with a different kind of ministry in the church.
But I do wear something similar when I have to preach as a pulpit supply preacher—what we call a substitute preacher.
I wear a wider piece of cloth that looks like a stole but has a slightly different shape.
It is called a tippet.
In the Church of Scotland—the mother church or the church where the Presbyterian Church (USA) came from—a preacher (both ordained or lay person) is allowed to wear a black tippet.
Another name for it is a preaching scarf.
It served two purposes a long time ago.
First, it helps people understand who is doing the preaching when there’s a lot of people in a crowd.
Second, it was also used to wipe a preacher’s mouth when she or he is speaking too much. Ever met one of those preachers?
Some ordained ministers of the Word and Sacrament who are allowed to wear a stole, sometime prefer to wear the tippet. This is often just a matter of style.
Who decides what a preacher wears?
In Presbyterian churches, the Session or group of ruling elders recommend what they want their ministers to wear during services.
Some churches prefer a liturgical gown—it looks like a graduation gown—with a stole.
Other churches want their ministers to wear their regular clothes with a stole on top of it.
More and more churches are allowing the use of an alb with stole. An alb is a plain white or black robe.
At Edgewater Presbyterian Church, we allow our ministers to wear what they feel is appropriate—like wearing a black liturgical gown during Lent but wear regular clothes with a stole on top during the heat of summer.
Our young friend’s question about Pastor Kristin’s stole is just another example of how everything we use in church has a story behind it.
