Posted on 09/05/2011 9:34:30 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
Churches across France have become overrun by tourists in skimpy beachwear, showing off bare stomachs and wearing baseball caps, according to priests who have spoken out about the drop in standards.
A report in regional newspaper Midi Libre claims that religious leaders have tired of the increasingly disrespectful dress codes of some visitors.
“Our church is right by the beach,” said Father Martin Gabet of the Notre Dame des Anges de Collioure church, close to the Spanish border. “As a result, lots of people come in wearing their swimwear. There have even been people who come in just to change their clothes.”
It’s the same story in the jetset resort of Saint-Tropez, according to Father Michel Hayes.
“It’s getting worse and worse,” he told the newspaper, commenting that many come in with “baseball caps nailed to their heads” and then set about “having picnics on the pews.”
“We are in a society where people go unthinkingly from the beach to a museum, from a fast-food restaurant to a cathedral,” said Monsignor Bernard Podvin, a spokesman for the bishops’ association, Conférence des évêques de France.
Nor is Lyon's impressive basilica of Notre Dame de Fourvière, which dominates France’s second-largest city, immune to visitors' sloppy manners and sartorial peccadilloes.
Its rector told the newspaper that some visitors walk in “smoking or with their dogs” and are happy to “show off their bare backs, bare stomachs and even their pierced belly buttons.” He added that some wander around “as if they were in a train station.”
In the north-west town of Rouen, church administrators think they have found a solution. Visitors pass by staff who are able to give “remarks and reflections” on their attire before they enter into the main part of the cathedral.
“It might seem a bit uncivilized, but it’s proven to be really effective,” said Dominique Canu, a cathedral manager.
they ought to get creative, set up some picnic tables and charge a fee
I think there might be some opportunity hidden in here.
While the attire isn’t appropriate for church, God doesn’t care how we arrive. Maybe places set aside for such attire.
God might not care, but you are offending those who view the church as a place of worship.
“many come in with “baseball caps nailed to their heads”
makes me recall Vlad the impaler’s solution.
Now there's an idea whose time has come.
Perhaps they could have a rack of robes / jackets / skirts available to cover up those visitors who are not appropriately attired to enter the church. I've read here of some churches in the U.S. which do this.
Another one.
Maybe God would notice the respect they showed Him if they took the time to consider their wear.
Guess He would also notice that they did NOT consider Him worthy of the time to consider their apparel as they came to worship Him.
Looked nice, too.
Like I said, as there’s a place for “delightfully tacky, yet unrefined”, there’s also a place for beachwear, be it ever so abbreviated. Unless the presiding minister decided to do an impromptu open-air service on the beach, church is probably not it.
Yes! #11.
At least they are coming into church! This should be seen as a positive—What they do is done out of ignorance—they must be educated—converted and brought to God.
I’m amazed by the number of men who wear their baseball hats into restaurants and sit there eating dinner while still wearing them.
Many of these guys are older so I figure they’re trying to cover their bald pate.
If God wanted us naked, he would not have sent us into the world fully clothed.
He certainly does. Attitudes like yours are the problem.
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, immodesty, luxury," Galations 5:19
"But the fruit of the Spirit is, charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, longanimity, Mildness, faith, modesty, continency, chastity. Against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
Why don’t they have robes for people to wear?
Just put them in the closet at the back of the church and people can don them before they enter.
If you have ever been to the French beaches along the Med, bottoms are all the women wear and often they come off for the all over tan! If they want to arrive at church that way... fine with me. Bet it increases overall attendance!
Jesus would at least wear a tie. Maybe not a pompadour, but then, he was old school.
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