BRETHREN-L Archives
Archiver > BRETHREN > 2000-07 > 0964491891
From:
Subject: Re: Prayer Coverings
Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 22:24:51 EDT
Lots of the women in our Brethren/Mennonite fellowship wear prayer coverings,
plainish dress, black stockings and even clunky shoes (Birkenstocks for the
younger ones) though nobody would call themselves "old order"--just
conservative. But all have telephones and computers and are on-line. (We
send out church announcements via e-mail because there's nobody who isn't
wired.) Some don't have TV's, but that makes sense to me. All have cars
and electricity. Since this is a university town, many have graduate
degrees, some of them in computerish things.
They aren't Amish, after all. Just wear "Plain Dress." None of the
husbands wear what I think of as "plain" clothing, but they do go in for
beards.
One of the nicest, most subtle and gentle scoldings I've ever heard came from
a visiting Pennsylvania COB minister who apparently was surprised by the two
or three women (including me) who showed up at a Wednesday study group
without prayer caps. It was a good five minutes before I realized that I'd
been (nicely) admonished. But then I grew up in a midwestern church where
only the older ladies wore prayer caps, except for Love Feast.
I'm not sure what "old order" means--but I know there are varying degrees of
conservatism within the church and even within some congregations.
This thread: