People dressing formally at church is correlated to...what exactly?

[Randy Bobandy]

It makes sense that the Christian God would care about people's fashion sense.

[DemPGH]

I think it boils down to the fact that church, and certainly what you could call church culture, is very, very close to business culture, actually. So to dress up for church, or to at least go "business casual," and I'm not sure if that term is still popular or not, makes sense.

In any event, preferences like attire are always reflective of the culture that sinks itself into any organized activity, church being one.

[justfollowingtheelections]

It's kind of interesting because it's hard to pin down. I used to think it was a liberal/conservative thing (back when my point of comparison was mostly just rural Lutheran churches only olds go to and more modern family-oriented ones like where my parents go to now), but I've seen in videos of megachurches and even Assembly of God services and on their websites most people are wearing jeans. Similarly when I was returning this morning I passed a church near me which is one of the most blatantly liberal ones in the state (to where they are quite active in opposing the anti-gay marriage amendment and hosting speakers against it) and noticed people leaving, most of whom were somewhat formally dressed and a group of olds crossing the street in front of me who were all super-formal and the men had ties and everything. And they are way more theologically liberal than most churches to to the point of not preaching belief in a physical Resurrection, which no one would do at where I went. Yet they also host another smaller church in the afternoon that is just as liberal politically but theologically more conservative that I've had some involvement with, and no one there dresses up. And if you look up an Episcopal cathedral on YouTube you'll see they tend formal, but so do Mormons and I'm sure that a LCMS church would be way more formal than any ELCA one, and as I mentioned a few weeks ago most people were pretty dressed up at my cousin's first communion in a Catholic church in a conservative suburb, so you can't say it's correlated with theologically liberalism either.

So what is the correlation? It almost seems arbitrary in regards to political and/or theological liberalism/conservatism.

I think traditionally it has more to do with people doing menial labor, working long hours and church being one of the few, if only, opportunity every week to interact with others in their community at a more personal level, and they therefore felt the need to be more presentable.

I guess one of the reasons church attendance is so low in societies with a high percentage of white collar workers is because they have to look their best every morning when they go to work and what the church offered them as members of the community simply doesn't have the same appeal anymore.  

[PiMp DaDdy FitzGerald]

Another thing is that the Romans, in order to try and keep out Jews from christianity, madated the wearing of togas in Church so as to keep out poor Jews. This tradition has continued to morph into dressing formally for church.

[DC Al Fine]

I guess one of the reasons church attendance is so low in societies with a high percentage of white collar workers is because they have to look their best every morning when they go to work and what the church offered them as members of the community simply doesn't have the same appeal anymore.  

Not sure about white vs blue collar, but IIRC religious participation tends to increase somewhat with income, all else equal.

[CatoMinor]

It's one of the unwritten rules in the Bible, along with:

-Close eyes when praying
-Speaking in a dead form of English
-holding hands together while praying

------specific to the culture of where I go to church-----

-Saying "Lord God" or "Father God" after like literally every other word almost during a prayer.
-Coffee blacker than the center of a black hole.
-Beards
-Always have a knife on you.
-Hipster dresscode

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

It's one of the unwritten rules in the Bible, along with:

-Close eyes when praying
-Speaking in a dead form of English
-holding hands together while praying

------specific to the culture of where I go to church-----

-Saying "Lord God" or "Father God" after like literally every other word almost during a prayer.
-Coffee blacker than the center of a black hole.
-Beards
-Always have a knife on you.
-Hipster dresscode

What?  No "Lord Jesus" or "Christ Jesus" or the like?  What are they, Unitarians? Probably not, tho.  Most Unitarians would throw in a "Mother Goddess" or two as well.

[CatoMinor]

It's one of the unwritten rules in the Bible, along with:

-Close eyes when praying
-Speaking in a dead form of English
-holding hands together while praying

------specific to the culture of where I go to church-----

-Saying "Lord God" or "Father God" after like literally every other word almost during a prayer.
-Coffee blacker than the center of a black hole.
-Beards
-Always have a knife on you.
-Hipster dresscode

What?  No "Lord Jesus" or "Christ Jesus" or the like?  What are they, Unitarians? Probably not, tho.  Most Unitarians would throw in a "Mother Goddess" or two as well.

Far from Unitarian, and last I checked it was aMEN, not aWOMAN.

[Simfan34]

Church today was actually disgustingly New Rite. The music all sounded like some jazz club and they were actually clapping during the dismissal. I just left at that point. It was completely inappropriate and lacked solemnity. The only nice thing about it was the fact the deacon was smartly dressed in a traditional cassock and surplice, which was right up my alley.

[Simfan34]

Furthermore, I will admit some displeasure at seeing, well, uh, uncovered shoulders at church. It's not something I take exception to normally, not even at church, but I happened to be standing in front of the choir and noticed some choristers in dresses were wearing jackets or cardigans and I saw the contrast. It's strange, I'll admit, even my father asked if I had joined the Taliban when I told him.

No doubt, I'd be outright disgusted if I were to see mens' shoulders in church. I've never liked seeing t-shirts in church but I've become inured to them, although I noticed them after this and was bothered by it.

It's strange, noticing all this. I'm inclined to think I do now because mass at college is so much more... restrained. I think it has to do with the sort of college student who attends mass, particularly at a school like mine, which would lend itself to a more liturgically conservative environment.

[DC Al Fine]

It's strange, noticing all this. I'm inclined to think I do now because mass at college is so much more... restrained. I think it has to do with the sort of college student who attends mass, particularly at a school like mine, which would lend itself to a more liturgically conservative environment.

That's exactly it. You're usually quite committed if you attend university services. Your standard parish church has far more casual Catholics.

[Simfan34]

That is what I thought.