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The Surprising Origin of the Long Hair View

The long-hair view isn’t ancient—it’s modern. For nearly 1900 years, Christians understood Paul’s command the same way: the covering in 1 Corinthians 11 was a veil. In this video, we show how the believers closest to Paul interpreted his words, what the Greek-speaking fathers unanimously taught, and why the “long-hair” theory didn’t appear until the late 19th century under a German liberal theologian. As the old saying goes, “If it’s new, it’s not true.”

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Rediscovering the Forgotten Practice of Head Covering

Before the 1960s, head covering wasn’t rare—it was normal.

For the first 1,500 years of church history, every church obeyed Paul’s instructions in 1 Corinthians 11 for women to cover their heads in worship—no exceptions. For centuries afterward, most churches continued the practice until it quietly disappeared in the West under the pressure of second-wave feminism.

In this video, we walk through what Scripture teaches, how the historic church understood this passage, and why abandoning head covering has weakened the church’s ability to defend biblical teaching—opening the door to female clergy, egalitarianism, and even the normalization of same-sex relationships.

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Why A Head Covering Doesn’t Cover The Face

You may view/download a PDF version of this article here

Periodically, the Head Covering Movement comes across men or women who believe that “face covering” is included in the practice of “head covering.”

Why is this? They usually believe that the practice of face covering is supported by Scripture, or by historic Christian practices, or by their own theological concepts, or by certain writings outside of the Bible.

They are sometimes even referring to “full face” coverage provided by styles like the burqa/burka. And yes, they identify as “Christian” and are not promoting Islam.

Of course, it’s true that some women have covered their faces in certain cultures, in specific situations, at various points in history, and for a variety of reasons. This includes women among several religions, some ladies in the Old Testament, and even some sisters in Christ (often many centuries ago).

Obviously, face-veiling is not the normal practice within most of Christianity today, including among those who practice head covering.

However, there’s something more important than simply identifying which practices are “normal” among Christians of various locations and periods of time. Instead, we look to the authority of God’s Word to identify His direction for Christians of all times and locations.

So let’s do that now. Read more

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Our Response to “Uncovering The Head Covering Movement” Part 2: From the Heart of a Head Covering Woman

Adam McIntosh, pastor at St. David’s Reformed Church in Houston, and writing for Kuyperian Commentary, published an intriguing three-part series attempting to “uncover the head covering movement.” In Part One of the series, he introduced “10 vital questions which must be answered” in order to understand what the Bible really teaches about head covering. In Part Two, he attempted to answer these 10 questions. Part Three addressed the “dangers to be avoided” when head covering.

Since Head Covering Movement Co-Director David Phillips already did an excellent job of addressing the theological assumptions and objections brought up in this series, my goal is simply to respond as a head covering woman to some of the ideas put forth in McIntosh’s series. I agreed with some of his ideas. Others I found to be inaccurate. And I felt that some of them were a bit offensive. I will be addressing this from a “heart” perspective. Read more

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Our Response to “Uncovering The Head Covering Movement” Part 1: The Theology

AGAINST THE HEAD COVERING MOVEMENT?

I was recently surprised to see that a Reformed pastor has taken the time to produce a carefully written 3-part series about his disapproval of The Head Covering Movement.

Of course, a number of Christians (mostly in the last century) have written commentaries, studies, and sermons that disagree with the modern day practice of head covering. But this is the first time I’ve seen someone write against the Movement. He even picked a creative title: “Uncovering the Head Covering Movement.”

After the initial feeling of surprise, my next response was gratitude. The Head Covering Movement must be making a splash that’s big enough to be noticed by those who haven’t yet embraced the practice. Whether that splash is happening due to the “Movement” itself or due to God’s overall work in returning His people to 1 Corinthians 11, praise the Lord! Read more

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HCM Update: Second Quarter of 2024

Greetings to the worldwide members of the Head Covering Movement!

We hope this year has been going well for you!

We’d like to provide an update about what the HCM Team members have been working on lately, and today seems like an appropriate day to do that.  So without further ado…

 

David (Co-Director):  By popular demand, David has decided to take a leave of absence in order to start the Head Uncovering Movement for men, especially aimed at male worship leaders who wear ball caps or beanies while singing to the Lord. He’ll also be focusing on the spiritual issues (non-legalistically, of course) behind men wearing skinny jeans and/or pink ties, but is still searching for proof-text passages to use for that.

 

Jennifer (Facebook Moderator):  At her own invitation, Jennifer has graciously accepted the position of “HCM Matchmaker” for our HCM Facebook Group.  Her focus will be on the women and men who just “happen” to casually note that they’re single, usually mentioned somewhere within their first (and second and third) post. Her services are free for the first 3 months, but matches that end in marriage will require a mandatory freewill donation. Read more

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Church-Only Covering: Re-Evaluating the Best Arguments

This is the second article in a three-part series seeking to biblically answer the question, “When and where am I supposed to wear a head covering?”

Here are the titles of all 3 articles (links will be added when each is published)…

  1. “Covering Beyond Sunday Morning?”
  2. “Church-Only Covering: Re-Evaluating The Best Arguments”
  3. “Covering While Praying or Prophesying: So, Exactly When Is That?”

 

You may view/download a PDF version of this article here.

 

INTRODUCTION

In the eleventh chapter of First Corinthians, the Apostle Paul explained the Christian practice of head covering. The first article in our 3-part series considered the context for when that head covering practice was to occur. It found that Paul taught Christian women to use a covering while praying or prophesying (in other words, while communicating to God or from God). Christian men were to uncover their heads during the same activities.

The article pointed out that Paul did not mention the Sunday morning church service during his instructions about head covering, nor state that the local church gathering was the only location where coverings were to be worn. Instead, he gave clear indications that head coverings were also intended for use beyond the congregational church assembly. Further, Paul’s specific reasons for covering did not exclusively relate to church gatherings. Instead, his reasons for covering applied wherever prayer and prophecy occur.

The article concluded that the Bible provides an open door for the use of coverings beyond the Sunday morning assembly. After all, Christian women often pray outside of church services! However, there is more to this discussion that’s worth examining. Those who advocate for “church-only” covering often base their position on four main arguments. The previous article in this series did not consider or respond to those arguments. It’s only proper that we carefully consider other perspectives, and that’s what this article is all about. Read more

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