law collar

Stop in the name of the Lord.

It’s about time for another post about the clerical collar, isn’t it?  

A few days ago I helped to deliver Thanksgiving baskets to people from the church.  Take away the basket and picture bags of food that encompass not only Thanksgiving day, but also the days before and after it, trying to take into consideration kids being home from school.

However, before I left to run around Syracuse, I went home and put on my clerical collar.  I would be in mostly “bad” neighborhoods.  ”Questionable.”  ”Not lingering territory,” you might say.  It was daytime, so I had that going for me, and decided it wasn’t a bad idea at all to wear a collar. (No worries, mom and dad!)

Did it protect me?  Well, I was never in any situation where I felt like it offered protection.  But, as I checked in at an office of an apartment complex that is notorious for being, well, notorious, the interactions I had with the staff and with people I encountered in the elevator were impacted by that collar.  As I asked a man what floor so I could push the right button, he said “the penthouse, ma’am,” with a roll of his eyes and a wide smile.  Would this conversation have happened sans collar?  Probably.   

I could go on and on and on about what I think is right and wrong, upstanding and weird about the collar, but I’m not going to.  Would you?  Please comment.

training collar

 

The best photo of my chin yet!

Another post on the clerical collar.  You can read the other posts I’ve written about collars here and here.

 

On Wednesday night, a few new kids had come with a few regulars.  As they were standing in the food line, one of the girls caught my eye and said, as she pointed to both sides of her, “they’re new!”  So, I came over to introduce myself to the new girls.  

For kids who have never been to a church, saying my name with “Vicar” in front of it is confusing.  Actually, I’d be willing to bet actual money on it being confusing for kids who have been to church.  I didn’t really know what it meant before I got the title either.  (Here’s a little word study I did on vicar.)

Is it important for me to have a title?   Yes and no.  On the yes front, it seems important for me to have this title with the teenagers here.  Their boundaries run a little blurrier and they test me in all sorts of ways, so I’m trying for some consistency.  (Although, I must say, the teenagers often call me “miss.”  Hilarioius to me, but it works fine, too.)  And for the older folks, they can just call me “vicar” without having to remember my first name.  (I am the 18th vicar here, so you can hardly blame them.)

On the no front, it can get in the way at times, which is what inspired this post.  And I think I can have people’s respect without a title.  I know it, actually.

After I asked the names of the girls and said them a couple times, I said, “Well, my name is Laura.  I’m a vicar.  It’s a funny name that means I’m practicing to be a pastor.”  Then I pointed at my collar and said “This is a collar that reminds me I am practicing to be a pastor.”  They looked quizzically at it and I said “Here, you want to see it?”  They all looked at it and touched it and that was that.  (I promise this conversation didn’t sound so….so…. scripted!  Reading it makes it sound like I had a lesson plan.  Not true.)

Truthfully, I don’t know if they used my name the rest of the night with “vicar” in front of it or not.

What do you think?  Those of you who have been or are in the position of having some sort of title, weigh in.