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Head Covering for Public Worship (by Michael Barrett)

Michael Barrett

Dr. Michael Bar­rett is Vice President for Academic Affairs/Academic Dean and Professor of Old Testament at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. He is a min­is­ter in the Free Pres­by­ter­ian Church of North Amer­ica. For­merly, Dr. Bar­rett served as pres­i­dent of Geneva Reformed Sem­i­nary. He earned his doc­tor­ate in Old Tes­ta­ment Text with a spe­cial focus on Semitic lan­guages. For almost thirty years, he was pro­fes­sor of Ancient Lan­guages and Old Tes­ta­ment The­ol­ogy and Inter­pre­ta­tion at Bob Jones Uni­ver­sity. Dr. Bar­rett has had an active role in the min­istry of the Free Pres­by­ter­ian Church since its incep­tion in North Amer­ica. He is a mem­ber of the Evan­gel­i­cal The­o­log­i­cal Soci­ety and has pub­lished numer­ous arti­cles in both pro­fes­sional and pop­u­lar jour­nals. He contributed to and served as Old Testament editor for The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible. Dr. Bar­rett and his wife San­dra have two sons and five grand­chil­dren. Dr. Barrett’s hob­bies include hunt­ing and think­ing about hunting.

[In addition to reading below, you can view the original PDF of this booklet here.]

Introduction

The Word of God is the only rule for faith and practice. Christian conduct must be the reflection of biblical standards rather than expedient conformity to changing style or habit. This principle is applicable to every area of Christian life, not the least of which is worship. The Westminster Confession of Faith, the adopted sub-standard of the Free Presbyterian Church, makes a significant statement regarding religious worship: “The acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men” (XXI.i). 1 Corinthians 11 establishes some of the divinely revealed guidelines of acceptable worship. In this chapter, the apostle Paul deals with two essential aspects of public worship: head covering for women and proper observance of the Lord’s Supper. Unfortunately,the regulations concerning head covering have either been misinterpreted, or through expediency, relegated to the sphere of local Corinthian custom which has no applicability to modern, American Christianity. It is the position of the Free Presbyterian Church that the shifting customs of society do not influence or abrogate the imperatives of Scripture. Therefore, the mandate of 1 Corinthians 11 that women must worship with covered heads is as binding today as it was in the first-century church. Read more

What Did Saint Augustine Believe About Head Covering?

Head Covering: Church History Profiles

[Series introduction: This post is part of a series that examines what certain leaders in church history believed about head covering. Their arguments, choice of language and conclusions should not be misconstrued as an endorsement from us. The purpose of this series is to faithfully show what they believed about covering rather than only selectively quoting the parts we agree with.]

Saint Augustine (354-430 A.D.) served as Bishop of Hippo (modern day Annaba, Algeria). He is the pre-eminent “Doctor of the Church” according to Roman Catholicism, and is considered by many Evangelicals to be one of the theological fathers of the Protestant Reformation due to his teachings on salvation and grace. He is best known for his books “Confessions” and “The City of God.”
Augustine

Augustine received a letter from his friend Possidius who was Bishop of Calama asking him numerous questions. One of those questions was should he (Calma) permit “ornaments of gold and costly dress?” Augustine told him that it shouldn’t be forbidden “except in the case of those who [are] neither [married] nor [intend] to marry.” He said this was because they “are bound to consider only how they may please God.” The rational he provided to allow those who are married to wear decorated dress was that they must “consider how they may in these things please their wives if they be husbands, their husbands if they be wives” (1 Cor 7:32-34.) So Augustine saw that looking good and attractive for your spouse was permitted. He did have one stipulation to this allowance though. He said, “with this limition, that it is not becoming even in married women to uncover their hair, since the apostle commands women to keep their heads covered.” So here we see that even though he permits married women to wear decorated dress, they are not allowed to uncover their heads. The fact that he said it was not becoming “even” in married women likely indicates that he believed single women were to cover their heads too. The fact he addressed a modern situation shows that Augustine believed that head covering was not cultural but was to be practiced in his day in Northern Africa. 1) All quotations from this paragraph are taken from “Letter 245” which can be read online here: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102245.htm Read more

References

1.
↑ All quotations from this paragraph are taken from “Letter 245” which can be read online here: http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/1102245.htm

A Guide To Head Covering Styles

A Guide To Head Covering Styles

Maybe your new to head coverings and you are confused by all the styles available. You don’t know what a “tichel” is or you are wondering which style is appropriate for a Christian woman to wear. I am blessed to be a part of an amazing group of woman on Facebook that daily interact with each other. And let me say that they wear EVERYTHING under the sun — from a more traditional Mennonite style cap to simple headbands to a Muslim hijabs.

In the Bible, Paul doesn’t address the style of head covering, but rather that we should be covered. The interpretation of that verse when it comes to style is far and wide. The list below is by no means exhaustive.

For more images of head coverings, visit The Head Covering Movement’s Pinterest page!

There are so many different styles of head coverings to choose from when covering as a Christian woman. Check out these styles and learn more about head covering.

Read more

I Prayed About It (And I Don’t Feel Convicted To Cover)

I Prayed About it (And I Don't Feel Convicted to Cover)

Many years ago I read a letter from a Christian teen who revealed that he recently became intimate with his girlfriend. He said that he had been genuinely wrestling with if he should or should not, so he decided to pray about it. Like Gideon, he asked God to make his will clear, “God if she asks to come over tonight, I’ll know you’re okay with us having sex. If she doesn’t, I’ll know you’re against it.” Later that night he receives a call from his girlfriend asking to come over and the teenage boy ends up sleeping with her under a false sense of permission due to what he believes is an answered prayer. While that’s an extreme (but real) example, many of us have used his method for determining God’s will with other issues. In this article I’d like to show why we should not let our decisions be made by prayer, if we’re given direct and clear instructions in Scripture. Read more

Christian Headcovering in India

Christian Headcovering in India

Let’s face it. Head covering in America isn’t commonplace. Of course, head covering is prevalent in some areas — like in Muslim or Jewish communities and an even smaller percentage exists among Christian communities. But what about in other countries? What does head covering look like in ancient places like Egypt, Israel or India? Does it still exist? And if so, what is it’s purpose? What will these answers teach us?

As a head covering Christian woman I was excited to see the practice first hand on our recent trip to Hyderabad, India. Immediately upon arrival, I realized the difference between my American culture and their India one: head covering is everywhere in India.
 Read more

Is Corporate Worship Limited to the Sunday Service?

What's Corporate Worship?
We are aware that this is a significant amount of people who believe that headcovering is not limited to corporate worship. This article is not written for those with that conviction. This article is written to those who believe the command is limited to certain contexts and are thinking through if they should cover (women) or uncover (men) in various situations. Due to the nature of the subject matter, this should be read as opinion rather than authoritative.

Determining “where” women should cover their heads is one of the more difficult and less-clear aspects of the passage. As we’ve articulated here, we believe that the symbol is meant for corporate worship. But how broad or narrow should we define corporate worship? Is this just the Sunday church meeting or does it have application for other settings? In this article we’d like to provide some thoughts to help determine if a woman should cover her head in a particular context.

Before we talk about specifics, it’s important that I first share my guiding principles. These are the questions I ask myself about a situation to determine if my wife should cover her head (and if I should remove my hat).

1) Is this meeting of believers under the authority of the elders/local church? If so and if there is corporate participation then I’d say yes it is corporate worship.
2) Does this meeting pattern itself after a church gathering (praying and singing together, preaching etc.)? If so, I’d say it is corporate worship.
3) Will there be corporate singing to the Lord together? If so, that’s a strong indication that it may be corporate worship.
4) Would it be appropriate in this setting to take part in the Lord’s supper? If so, that’s a strong indication that it may be corporate worship.
5) Would it be inappropriate for a woman to be the speaker/leader of this gathering of Christians? If so, that’s a strong indication that it may be corporate worship.

The more of these elements that are present, the more sure I am that a woman should cover in that setting. Read more

A Uniquely Christian Symbol: How Head Coverings Were Unfamiliar To Everyone

A Uniquely Christian Symbol: How Head Coverings Were Unfamiliar To Everyone

When we read 1 Corinthians 11, our minds usually wonder about the culture of Corinth and the general customs of that time. “Maybe this was peculiar to the situation in that city? Maybe women wearing head coverings were normative back then? Maybe a man with his head covered stood for something bad in that culture?” When these questions are raised, the interpreter often concludes that since in our time and culture coverings aren’t normative and men wearing hats are not frowned upon, that we are free to abandon or change the symbol to something more meaningful to us. Though there are exegetical reasons for not taking this route, there are also cultural reasons for why that simply doesn’t work. See, behind this assumption is a belief that what Paul laid out regarding head covering was culturally normative, familiar, and meaningful. That’s just simply not true. Read more

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