Really, that's all it is.
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| A Clergy Stole |
Leaders in the Lutheran Church usually wear a couple of odd pieces of clothing when they lead a worship service. First, they wear an alb. It's that white robe that most pastors and priests wear. You've seen them. They look like a big, flowing dress and are usually worn by older, white men. They look a little out of place. Ancient. Foreign.
Also worn is this thing called a stole. This is the piece of cloth I referred to moments ago. At its root, the stole is simply a garment worn over the alb to signify the status of the person wearing it. For most denominations, that means that ordained pastors are the only ones to wear the stole. Simply put: not ordained, no stole.
The stole can be practical, too. Like an alb, it helps to identify the principal leader of the service. Even for Lutherans, the alb and the stole aren't musts. They're typically just suggested apparel. Usually tradition demands they be worn. So it's a pick-your-battle kind of thing.
There is deeper meaning to these pieces of clothing, above and beyond the practical aspects they hold. The alb signifies baptism, and thereby belongs to everyone.1 The leader of the service wears it to illustrate a different way to be—a way that transcends any particular clothing style. The alb is also meant to disassociate the leader from the ways that our current clothing communicates gender, sexual attraction, class, and wealth, inviting each of us to another way of considering the human being.2 In these ways, I believe the alb can be a helpful symbol. The practical problem is that no one really thinks about those deeper meanings when they see someone wearing an alb.
The stole is a bit different in that it's reserved for those who have been ordained. Called by God. Set apart for the ministry of Word and Sacrament. Sounds so reverent, right? The stole has its origins as far back as the Roman empire and, like an alb, it is a beautiful symbol, even if it unintentionally elevates a person's status above the others around them.
Even with the problems that a stole can embody, I find myself, as a soon-to-be pastor, longing to don this symbolic garment. Weird, because I am not particularly drawn to the traditional ways of the Church. Like I said before, it's just a piece of cloth.
And yet, for me, it will mark the conclusion of a four-plus-year journey, one that has challenged me in ways I never could have expected. It will signify a time when I become something I never thought I could be. It will give affirmation to my calling, though it makes me no better than anyone else.
In its best sense, my hope is that the stole will continually remind me of the sacredness of my vocation. The trust that others have put in me. The invaluable influence I might have in others' lives. The complexity of faithfully proclaiming this odd and mysterious gospel.
When I become ordained, I won't get a ring. I won't magically become different than I am now (even with many ordained clergy hands laid on me). I won't get some miter or fancy hat. But what I will receive is the honor of wearing the stole. Just a piece of cloth. Yet so much more.
And while it is just a piece of clerical attire, I pray it lies a bit heavy around my neck, ever reminding me of its depth and purpose.
1, 2 - Brugh, Lorraine S. and Gordon W. Lathrop. The Sunday Assembly. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2008. Print.
