I am writing to give you an update on our practice of head covering in our church. In September 2014 our church went away for a fellowship weekend where we discussed the subject of Complementarianism and Egalitarianism. As a result our church officially adopted a Complementarian position of leadership which has been written into our Church Beliefs and Values.

In the four weeks leading up to our Church Fellowship Weekend I preached on women’s head covering from 1 Corinthians 11:1-16. As a result of these sermons the leadership of T.I.C. have introduced the following statement regarding women’s head covering in a booklet entitled “What We Believe”:

Head covering for Women: We believe that a woman is required by Scripture to cover her head in any church service where prayer, preaching or teaching is being exercised. This is clearly taught by Paul in 1 Corinthians Chapter 11 verses 1 – 16. There isn’t a single verse in Scripture which cancels the validity of these verses. This teaching is theological, universal and timeless, not cultural, geographically limited or temporary. We believe this is a Biblical requirement for all women (married and single). Although we believe that a woman should cover her head in all TIC Meetings and strongly recommend the practice of head covering, it is not a salvation issue and, therefore, we do not insist on it. Every woman coming to TIC has the choice of whether to cover or not. TIC has very clear and comprehensive teaching on the subject of Women’s head covering and Pastor Robin Bassam’s 65 page head covering Teaching Manual is available to anyone in TIC, on request.

Even though every lady in T.I.C. has a choice, nearly half of our ladies use a head covering; and the practice of head covering is increasing in the church. Read more

“Nooooo, Mom! No more scarves!” my oldest daughter pleaded with me.

“But I need a navy one! The one I have is too blue and they are so cheap,” I said in response while shopping with my kids.

I want to say that this is an isolated situation, but it’s not. Just days later I was in another store and the sign posted said, “Saturday and Sunday only, all scarves half off!”

I’m such a sucker for head coverings and a good deal. The combination was just too much to pass by. I couldn’t decide which one I like the most, but because of the wisdom of my children I only bought two.

When I started covering a little over a year ago, I only had two rogue scarves that had somehow managed to pass all my prior purging sessions, but now I don’t know how many I have.

Are you like me? Has your discovery of head covering opened up a new obsession with tichels, scarves and mantillas? Has your collection gone overboard? Read more

Our family moved cross-country to Edmonton, Alberta and thus were in need of finding a good local church in our new city. Being a part of a local church is assumed throughout the New Testament and many commands cannot be fulfilled¹⁾ Believers cannot be disciplined unless they are actually committed to a local body (Matt 18:17, 1 Cor 5:2). Likewise, believers cannot submit to the elders who would be giving an account to God for you (Heb 13:17). Here’s a short video by John Macarthur on the importance of a local church. unless believers are a part of one. Not being part of a local church is like being without a Bible–your growth will be severely stunted without it. So we visited a few churches but ultimately settled at Fellowship Baptist Church. The preaching and doctrine is solid, the fellowship amongst believers is great and there are many other positives as well. After a few months of attending we made the commitment to become a member of this congregation.

Fellowship Baptist isn’t a “head covering church”. That’s likely surprising to you since I founded the Head Covering Movement and have spent the last 6 years defending this practice. It’s obviously a very important topic to me. But the church’s view on this symbol was not even on our radar as far as issues to consider before joining. We assumed they weren’t practicing it before we ever stepped foot in the building (safe assumption today) and we were okay with that. There are too many issues that are far more important than head covering and those are the issues that we wanted to have unity on. What kind of issues am I talking about? Well this church preaches the gospel, clearly. They’re evangelistic. They love the Bible and know it well. The congregation loves one-another and is involved in each other’s lives. They will carry out church discipline if necessary. They’re complementarian in their view of gender and reformed in their soteriology²⁾ Though not agreeing with everything listed, here is a brief description of reformed theology. For more depth you can watch this series by R.C. Sproul. (two important distinctives for us). So for us the positives significantly outweighed the negatives. We don’t need to be in a head covering church: we just need the freedom to act on our conviction to practice it. This church allows freedom of conscience on such issues which makes it a church where we can thrive spiritually. While it would be nice if they agreed with our understanding, that shouldn’t be a pre-requisite for joining. We should never expect perfect agreement, but rather, we should seek unity on the most important issues. If we appreciate freedom of conscience to practice covering (even though its not their belief), how could we then turn around and say you must believe as I do on the same issue or we’re leaving/not joining? Read more

I walked wearing my tichel-style head covering on a recent mission trip to Haiti. At first, my teammates assumed that I covered for fashion purposes. Soon it was revealed that I believed in Christian head covering. The questions started rolling in. Like most American Christians, head covering was as foreign as the Haitian soil we were standing on!

I tried to explain it all as best I could under pressure. Most of the women were mesmerized with the entire teaching. Like many American Christians they haven’t given much thought to the idea of head covering, much less met anyone that covered.

No one joined me in covering during the six days I bunked with them even though I covered for most of the trip, but seeds were planted. At least that’s all I can hope for.

As head covering Christian women, we love to introduce to other people how covering has revolutionized our hearts. This is a beautiful thing. It’s how we were created — with a desire to see people live in the fullness of Christ. Read more

Once I discovered the truth about head covering, I started telling my friends and family about my decision, but only a few have joined me in covering.

As a head covering woman, I’m often left wondering why aren’t more women in our western churches covering? Why do our churches insist on viewing covering as a ‘cultural’ thing when it clearly is not?

The scales have fallen off our eyes and we want everyone to understand the blessing of covering, but when we are met with so much resistance it’s easy to find yourself slipping into self-righteous judgement and pride.

We think, ‘I know the truth. Those people don’t. I don’t even think they care to know the truth about covering.’

Even when you try to be humble, somehow arrogance tries to sneak its way into your heart. You think, ‘I am so wise. They are ignorant.’ Read more