‘Where does the reverence begin?’
Historically speaking, “Easter” was a pagan holiday to celebrate the beginning of spring, but early Christians adapted the celebration to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, and soon after rules about attire came into play.
“Dressing up for Easter is a tradition that really goes back as far as medieval times,” McMillan said. “Christians in medieval times began to wear new, clean clothes on Easter Sunday to symbolize the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the new life for believers. In 300 A.D., the Roman Emperor Constantine declared his court would wear their nicest and newest clothing on Easter Sunday.”
Coming from “humble beginnings” as one of six children, McMillan said he did not have the fanciest
Easter clothes growing up. Nonetheless, he instilled an appreciation for Easter ensembles to his children and enjoys seeing his family and congregation dress up in their Sunday best.
“I am the daughter of the churchiest Bishop ever in the history of the Church of God in Christ,” Thomas said jokingly about McMillan. “As a child, I looked forward to going Easter shopping. That meant going to a fancy store, getting a shoe with a little heel, lacy stockings and gloves.”
“Easter for the Black church is what Christmas is to the world,” Thomas emphasized.
Easter even brings out some traditional church looks for members of Central Christian Assembly.
“You’ll see people come in shorts and T-shirts, if it’s good weather, and you will see people come in very sort of, more formal attire: button downs, tucked in pants, whole suits,” Prothero said about the outfits he expects to fill the pews on Easter Sunday.
“People can sometimes get judgmental when they see somebody who they feel should dress up a little bit more, or they see a pastor wearing a cap on stage or something like that,” Prothero said. “For some people it crosses a line at ‘where does the relevancy end and where does the reverence begin?’ ”
Despite cultural opinions, there is no theological basis on how one should show up to worship on Easter. All should be welcomed to worship, no matter the outfit, the church leaders emphasized.
“There is no theology about dressing up for Easter. The scriptures basically tell us that we should be clean and appropriate when we come into the house. If there is someone that is not blessed to have clean, new or dressy clothes, the church should receive them without any discrimination,” McMillan said.
Prothero agrees, adding that while clothing can have meaning for individuals that doesn’t translate into religious meaning.
“It’s not like Paul’s in the New Testament saying, ‘Thou shall wear a suit and a tie of red,’ ” Prothero said. “There’s very little guidelines to go with, and so it’s all about honor and making sure that we do things that don’t completely disconnect people.”
“There is no theology about dressing up for Easter. The scriptures basically tell us that we should be clean and appropriate when we come into the house. If there is someone that is not blessed to have clean, new or dressy clothes, the church should receive them without any discrimination.” — Bishop William E. McMillan, Jr., founder and senior pastor of Rehoboth Ministries