Study these images (If you click them, they get bigger).
These are our colleagues out on the front lines, witnessing for justice. RIGHT ON, clergy!
Who do you want to follow? This is an urgent question right now.
Who looks like they have integrity, authority, a compelling presence that you, if you were undecided about whose voice to heed, might lend your ear and your trust? I feel stirrings of pride in almost all of these images but I’m a minister! It’s easy for me to cheer for the team. What I find challenging is to regard these images as the average, skeptical American might. What do these people look like to them?
Clergy leaders who were not arrested continue a protest against the Republican health care bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on July 13, 2017. RNS photo by Madeiline Buckley
Who isn’t thinking through their attire and their public image? I see a few bloopers.
I also find that, in general, there are too many colors and patterns for my eye to follow, and I think to the average viewer that might look a little cray-cray. I’m not sure, though. Do you think most people seeing these images know what a stole even is? I find that I respond well to a simple suit and collar, or to a white or black robe or outfit under a stole.
Who is assuming a clergy privilege that no longer exists in America, and presuming that they can get away with dressing like a slob and still be taken seriously?
You see it, right? Not good. Really insulting.
Remember that these images are seen by millions more people than will ever hear even one of our well-crafted sermons or even a sentence. Our face, our bearing, our sign, our body language, our gestures in photos or short videos are the only means of communication we have to reach this divided nation. We must be savvy about how we use them.
Blessings on all those who show up.
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