Dr. Chasuble, I Presume

It was chilly this past Sunday when I walked into church. Lisa was chilly too. She was wearing a green chasuble and announced to the faithful gathered for Sunday service, "It's cold!  I'm wearing my chasuble to stay warm!" I heard a couple of people behind me say, "What's a chasuble?"

This is a chasuble:

It's the green "poncho" she is wearing. (The color will change according to the church season.) A chasuble is a liturgical vestment worn over an alb (the white robe.) It is usually put on for the celebration of the Eucharist, but can be worn for the entire service. And it can also be worn for warmth.

Episcopalians, Anglicans, Lutherans and Roman Catholics make use of the chasuble, while most other evangelical Protestant denominations do not. And most Episcopal churches that are considered "low church" (they do not use incense, candles, chanting, vestments) don't use them either.

There is a page on Facebook called the Society Against Tacky Vestments. This page calls out what their members deem to be egregious examples of vestments in spectacularly bad taste. I am sorry to report that our own Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves has been cited on this page for choices she has made. But no one has been named as often as former Presiding Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori. In their defense, they state that many of the cited items have been given to them as gifts and they feel obligated to wear them.  

Oscar Wilde wrote a play that was first performed in 1895 called The Importance of Being Earnest. In this play there is an Anglican priest by the name of The Reverend Canon Doctor Frederick Chasuble. His calling was in his name.    --Amy Phillips Witzke