How I came to believe we are to cover our heads in church

I originally became interested in the topic from hearing a sermon that was aired on local Christian radio in the Fall of 2004, by Richard Ganz who pastors a church in Toronto. I'd never heard anyone argue in favor of an actual cloth head covering before. I knew that some people thought the head covering was long hair, including a relative who belonged to a Oneness Pentecostal church, and that others thought it meant that women should have the oversight of an official church leader for any work of Christian ministry or teaching. Beyond that most Christians seemed to have no clear view of it at all, and no one -- except my relative in the Oneness Pentecostal church -- ever suggested that there was a right way to understand it that all should adhere to. This seems a strange way to deal with scripture, but it seems to be an attitude reserved exclusively for this particular scripture.

Ganz's sermon inspired me to do some online research which even back then convinced me completely that we are to cover our heads today. Through my researches I came to disagree with most of Ganz's argument, but I thank the Lord for using him to open me up to the topic.

I then exchanged some emails with my pastor about it, who recommended an article defending the view that the head covering was simply the cultural way femininity was signaled in Paul's day and that we only need to express femininity in our day by whatever cultural standards apply. I couldn't see how femininity as such had anything to do with what Paul was talking about, or that Paul would ever make culture his standard in any case, but instead of continuing to refine my studies of it I soon gave up on it. This was partly a response to the impression that a few of the women in my church started mocking the idea of covering the head, by wearing odd hats with a sort of jocular attitude. Just an impression. Nobody said a word to me, but the hat phase soon ran its course.

I came to the conclusion that the topic was so controversial that it would be better just to ignore it than to make an issue of it, which could only be disruptive, a foolish conclusion to come to when you are talking about making an issue of God's word, but that's what I did.

Then in the first days of 2007, as I write in my Profile, I was fasting and praying for guidance and spiritual renewal, and among the fruits of that period was that the Lord brought my attention back to First Corinthians 11:2-16, about the head covering for women, after more than two years in which I'd been ignoring it since the first time He'd brought it to my attention.

Since I already believed from my studies in 2004 that a head covering was required, I recognized in January of 2007 that whether anyone agreed with me or not I had to cover my own head. So, since then I've been wearing some sort of covering in church, usually a beret I made myself. Over the following period I've also started covering my head most of the rest of the time, mostly because I never know when I'm going to be praying. It's on again off again however, and I need to come to a solid conclusion about it eventually. The scripture says the covering is to be worn in praying and prophesying, obviously in the public setting of the church, but whether it is clearly ONLY in public worship or not is not so clear. One factor in deciding this is the historical fact that women at least in the West covered their heads throughout the day up until very recently, ever since Paul wrote about it, as seen for instance in old paintings, also in the first photographs.

Since I started wearing a covering I also had various impressions about opinions in the church, though again, nobody talked to me about it. I told a few women friends my conclusion, but with the one exception of a young woman who said she'd like to discuss it with me some time -- who has since apparently changed her mind -- nobody mentioned it. I decided it wasn't up to me to push it, the Lord has to deal with this. There continued to be no discussion at all. Some told me my beret is cute but that's the extent of it.

One young woman brought up how ladies in Scotland all wear hats to church and she wondered why they did that, which I think was simply her way of saying how wrong they are. I wasn't sure whether to try to explain it at that point or not, since she wasn't really asking me about it, but something else intervened in any case. Besides that, all that's happened is that there seems to have been an extra emphasis on long hair by some in the church, one lady brushing hers out to give it full display although she usually wears it up, and even once giving it a playful little flip in my direction with a big smile. Another has grown hers out long which had been chin length for years. Not a word to me about it from anyone.

That has been the response, and lack of it, to my own covering, but I'd also been studying the passage and the various opinions on it over the last few months, and the research I did, which I've broken into the long series of posts below, was the result. I offered it to the elders of my church but only one responded, and then I completely lost my internet contact (which included access to the other blog I list to the side) and then left the church so I never heard back from him.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
As I've pursued the topic of the head covering online I've encountered a whole world of Christians I was hardly aware of before. Generally they seem to be discouraged with the evangelical churches, many seem to be currently unchurched, some may have home churches. They tend to put major emphasis on Jesus' teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and on the Ante-Nicene church fathers of the first couple of centuries. The women wear head coverings, emphasize modest dress. Aside from the head covering, main areas of teaching that have attracted me are a strict reading of scripture on divorce and remarriage and the application of Jesus' teachings on nonresistance to all violence of any kind, including serving in the military and police work. This blog is only for the head covering though, so I hope to get to the other issues in one of the other blogs.