The hat

"So you allow hats on the stage now?" He said referencing the young boy playing bass with the worship team on a Sunday morning.

"He's growing. We're still working with him" said the worship coordinator.

This was a scene at a church that I recently got to hear about. A story that bothered me deeply. A story that thankfully took a better course that it seemed to be headed.

The issue was with a teenage boy who was on stage playing bass for the first time on a Sunday morning, and happened to be wearing a hat. The hat wasn't worn out of disrespect or rebellion. If you were to ever see this kid I will guarantee that you'll see him with his hat.

Later on in the same day that the first scene took place e-mails were sent. First from the pastor. The pastor's letter went to the worship coordinator (an individual who has been given the responsibility of overseeing everything that has to do with the worship teams), the worship coordinators apprentice, and the worship leader who led worship that morning. The Pastor said that he wrote the letter on his own. No one had approached him to inform him of any issue at all. He said that after reflecting on the morning service that there may be some individuals who were bothered by the young man wearing a hat while playing the bass this morning. And said that we should talk to the young man, and this could be part of his maturing process.

My immediate response? Or it can be part of the church's maturing process.

Next an e-mail from the coordinator supporting the pastors e-mail.

Finally an e-mail from the worship leader stating that he feels there's no problem with the hat.
 The original though of the worship leader was that a religious stance on the hat and attempt to use scripture (though that wasn't indicated by the letters). This really annoyed him as well as myself when I heard the story, since there's only 1 verse they could possibly use, and it's not really applicable.

Then the thought process went to social reasons. It's disrespectful to wear a hat in church, or even in indoors. Right? But why? Ask that question to people who hold the no hat stance, it's fun. It sends them in circles. Keep asking till you get a legitimate reason. Chances are, you won't.

History lesson boys and girls. When did removing a hat begin to show respect? In the middle ages. When a knight would come into a town, or approach another person, to show he wasn't a threat he would remove his helmet. This communicated, "I'm not looking for a fight, and to prove it I'll make myself vulnerable." The concept then transferred to hats. Removing one's hat became a symbol of respect, mimicking the knights

So there really is some form of a legitimate reason to removing your hat in order to show respect. The question is, is it still applicable? And do people who don't really understand the reasons of it have the right to push it on others? Isn't God more concerned with our hearts? Is it OK to wear the hat if you know that those you're trying to serve are being distracted by it?

After though and a lot of discussion I felt that the hat in itself was not a problem at all. But as a worship team a big goal should be to create an atmosphere in which people can be free to worship. In the same token, if you can't worship because of a hat the problem isn't the hat. But if there's any hope of reaching those who think the hat is a problem it won't be done with stubbornness and rebellion.

What happened to the bass player kid? He had a worship leader & a youth leader that got involved. No one ever told him there was an issue with the hat, so for at least another day he's been kept away from the religious spirit that longs to devour the church. Will he be wearing the hat in church? Yes and no, he still wears the hat normally when he's just sitting in the pews, but decided to take it off when on stage so that it's not a distraction to those worshiping. A decision he made entirely on his own.

The hat