Church bans skimpy clothes and atheist T-shirts at the altar under new rules for clergy

RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS EDITOR WHILE the prospect of vicars in lacy underwear or bishops in mankinis might seem unlikely, it is an apparent peril which has so vexed Church of England officials that they are planning to amend canon law to prevent it – just in case.

Under proposed legislative changes to be put to members of the Church’s decision-making General Synod for approval this week is a new clause banning clergy from conducting services while wearing anything overly revealing or not “seemly”.

The rule would also apply to items such as T-shirts bearing atheist slogans or which promote extreme political views.

The change is among dozens of amendments to existing or proposed ecclesiastical law to be put to the Synod, which will hold its main annual gathering in York next weekend.

Other changes include a slight simplification to the process of selling off ancient glebe land – historic tracts of pasture traditionally used to support livings for the clergy – and rules on altering parish boundaries or names.

The ban on revealing priestly attire comes amid moves to relax the Church’s long-standing rules on clerical vestments. Canon law requires priests to wear traditional clerical robes, which maintain a tradition dating back to late Roman times, when leading communion or one-off services such as weddings, baptisms or funerals.

However, the rules are often ignored, especially in congregations which use more informal styles of worship. Supporters of the changes say they will help make services more “relevant” to younger people and win new converts.

Under the proposals, clergy would be able to abandon traditional vesture if leading members of the congregation agreed it would “benefit the mission of the church in the parish”.

The Rev Dr Giles Fraser, the vicar and broadcaster, who described himself as an “arch-traditionalist” on clerical robes, said: “The most unseemly thing I may have taken the eucharist in is a Chelsea top, but that was underneath my vestments so no one could see it. I think the whole point about having vestments is that it stops all this stuff being an issue.”

He added that the fact that canon law now had to stipulate that clerics should not wear inappropriate clothing was a sign of how far standards had fallen.