The collar says something about:
Me, the minister. It tells you that I am "under orders". I speak not for myself, but for Christ and his word. This means that I can't tell you simply what I want to tell you to make me feel good, or to make you feel good. I must communicate the truth, apply the truth, and do so in love, as Christ did, always bringing both gospel truth and gospel compassion. It communicates that I've prepared for this calling, and that I do not act alone, but am under the authority of a number of other people that hold me accountable in life and doctrine, so that you are not led astray. In combination with knowing me pastorally and even personally, because a uniform is always embodied, the collar communicates simply "pastor."
The collar says something about:
You, a seeker or follower of Christ. It tells you that just as the pastor is "under orders", so are those in union with Jesus Christ. You, the church, Christ's body, are under orders to be his very presence in this world. The collar of a minister not only tells the minister that he or she is a bondslave of Christ, but all those who see it are reminded they are too and that following Christ is an all or nothing proposition. Christians believe that to be under His dominion is actually freedom itself. In the words of Bob Dylan, "you gotta serve somebody" and the follower of Christ says, "serving Christ is my priority; submission to Him is the life of liberation I've sought in all my other pursuits." It also communicates that there are people that I can go to in this world who will pastor and shepherd me towards a deepening relationship with God. God in his wisdom has set aside some men and women as pastors and teachers whose vocation it will be to equip His people for ministry, and to lead them in reaching those who have not yet discovered faith in Jesus Christ.
The collar says something about:
City Church. City Church is committed to both an ancient and future orientation in it's ministry. Ancient in that it always recognizes that we are part of a larger story that started well before we arrived, we are fellow partakers of the great tradition (2 Thess 2:15, 3:6) that has been handed down to us, and that we are commissioned to hand down to others. This means we respect and look back to the practice of the church in previous ages, especially those ages where the church seemed to understand it's missionary identity. There we will find that communicating the gospel was full orbed, complete with word and deed ministries, and symbols and images that helped convey the gospel with aesthetics that were excellent and meaningful. We pray prayers and recite creeds each week that put us in solidarity with the earliest Christians, with most of the world's Christians today. But City Church is also future in it's orientation, seeking to communicate our ancient faith with modern, relevant, comprehensible applications of this historic gospel to a post Christian world. We will continue to explain, apply, remember what it's like not to believe, and create an environment where it's always safe to bring your friends who are not familiar with faith in Christ and may be interested in exploring what that might mean for them.
