I used to regularly wear a coat and tie to work, and I did the same for church on Sundays. It felt good. It seemed appropriate for my professional work and my public presentation as a journalist. And dressing up for church was a no-brainer. Now its mostly just the tie during cooler months in both venues work and church. But I generally now stick to a mere dress shirt and slacks on Sunday, keeping in step with the vast majority of the church crowd. Ive never felt suffocated by a tie, but I recognize how out of place it can make me look especially here in Arizona where things get informal. Often I am the only one in the Tribune newsroom wearing a tie, but I am heartened to see one new young business reporter wearing a tie regularly. From time to time, the Catholic Sun carries letters to the editor about what is appropriate or verboten church dress, things like exposed straps, bare arms, shorts, sandals and athletic shoes. Certainly tank tops are a turnoff. Of course, what people choose to wear to worship runs the gamut and only some congregations, through peer pressure and other forces, police standards.The late syndicated religious columnist George Plagenz once offered this: Indeed, it seems most of us have forgotten that there was once such a thing as Sunday best, where people saved their best clothes to wear on Sunday. These days, many clergymen encourage informality. What startled us in the 1970s is now taken for granted. Certainly the coatless-tieless look for men, accepted only at summer church services, today appears year-round–and seems to be here to stay. But a new question about appropriate church dress is being raised. Is it worshipful? Do the clothes you wear help you to worship better? Do they distract others from worshiping?Excellent questions. People I enormously admire disappoint me at times by their casual dress work and church. I stop short here at suggesting their work suffers or the sanctuary is sullied by jogging shorts and collarless shirts not tucked in. Many cutting-edge, trendy churches have pastors in casual clothing — no robes or stoles or even ties. They say they can better reach folks who don’t like pretense, stuffiness and formality.I have long vacillated on the value of dress codes. On one side is the issue of individuality and the freedom from imposed conformity. On the other is the merit in negating the fashion race and competition. Private schools long ago, of course, established precise dress codes that not only evened the field for poor and rich kids but stymied any chances that some kids would wear revealing clothing.In some church settings, we tend to cut a lot of slack for kids. Often young people who have roles in church services such as greeting, ushering or candle-lighting come wearing shorts, sandals, T-shirts and gym shoes. Nothing is customarily said probably because there are no spelled-out standards, and their parents will say that are just thankful they were able to get their offspring to do it never mind what they chose to wear. But here’s a salute those who successfuly impart to children and teens that dressing up for worship services enhances that experience and underscores how special it is — that it has to do with reverence and a higher sense of respect for what takes place in the worship space.

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