Christ Church FAQ

Presbyterian Church in America

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Why should the minister wear a robe when leading corporate worship?

God commanded the use of robes for his ministers in the Old Testament (Ex. 28). The explicit rationale was “for glory and for beauty” (Ex. 28:2), and these are timeless ideals that ought to characterize our worship as much as the worship at the tabernacle and temple in the old covenant era. The robe emphasizes the symbolic role of the minister as Christ’s representative in the liturgy. Thus, the robe emphasizes the unique ordained office of the minister and it deemphasizes his individual personality. The robe distinguishes the minister from businessmen, lawyers, or others who wear suits as their vocational dress.

A robe prevents the minister from sending the wrong message by identifying himself with the wrong symbols of cultural authority or with an exclusively middle or upper-middle class socio-economic group. The Lord’s Service is a special kind of occasion that merits a special uniform. It is a formal occasion when the Lord gathers His people, and thus a higher degree of formality in clothing is more consistent with the nature of the event. Finally, a robe makes the minister more approachable because the robe reminds people of the minister’s distinctive calling.

Why do we exist?

The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Among other things, the Lord’s Service is a microcosm of our life: glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. The term “The Lord’s Service” is purposefully ambiguous, because it accentuates both God’s service to us and our responsive service to Him. We give only as we have been given. God, our Triune God of grace, serves us by calling us into His presence, forgiving our sins, consecrating us by His Word, communing with us at His table and commissioning us to go forth and disciple the nations.

Our response to His gifts entail confessing our sins, rejoicing in His gracious forgiveness, heeding His word, giving of ourselves through tithes and offerings, and being nourished by the meal He provides. The Lord’s Service is to be reverent, yet filled with joy. The Lord’s Service is Trinitarian; we worship the Father, in the Son, by the Holy Spirit. Finally, the Lord’s Service is participatory: this is the purpose of our liturgy, presenting ourselves as living sacrifices to God (Romans 12.1).

Why do you pay heed to the church calendar?

Our calendars not only mark the passing of the days but also reveal the stories and priorities of the different cultures and groups to which we belong. Because Jesus Christ is the Lord of time, and because Jesus' life, death, and resurrection are the most important events in all of human history, it is not surprising that the Christian church has developed a calendar to celebrate those events and submit all of our time to him.

The precedent for this practice lies in the Old Testament. God himself commanded Israel to celebrate an annual cycle of festivals to commemorate the key historical events in which God saved Israel and formed them as his own people (see Lev. 23, Num. 28). Since these Old Testament festivals and the events they celebrated all found their ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ, the early Christians simply applied the biblical pattern of an annual calendar of worship in a new way that celebrated Christ's life and ministry more explicitly.

From the second to the sixth centuries A.D., the early church created the annual cycle of special seasons and festivals that we now know as the liturgical year: Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost.

Like all calendars, this liturgical calendar tells a story and gives structure to our lives. This calendar places the life and ministry of Jesus at the center of the church's worship, identity, and mission in a clear and unmistakable way. It also calls us to return continually to a Christ-centered life by subordinating the demands of all other competing calendars, stories, and priorities to those of Christ and his kingdom. By celebrating the festivals of the liturgical year, we return again and again to the life of Jesus to acknowledge that He is both the source and pattern for our own lives.