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Baptismal Robes

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D.C. · Jun 18, 1914

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 91, No. 25.

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Baptismal Robes

By A. R. Ogden

“In every church baptismal robes should be provided for the candidates. This should not be regarded as a needless outlay of means. It is one of the things required in obedience to the injunction, ‘Let all things be done decently and in order.’ 1 Cor. 14: 40.
“It is not well for one church to depend upon borrowing robes from another. Often when the robes are needed, they are not to be found; some borrower has neglected to return them. Every church should provide for its own necessities in this line. Let a fund be raised for this purpose. If the whole church unite in this, it will not be a heavy burden.
“The robes should be made of substantial material, of some dark color that water will not injure, and they should be weighted at the bottom. Let them be neat, well-shaped garments, made after an approved pattern. There should be no attempt at ornamentation, no ruffling or trimming. All display, whether of trimming or ornaments, is wholly out of place. When the candidates have a sense of the meaning of the ordinance, they will have no desire for personal adornment. Yet there should be nothing shabby or unseemly, for this is an offense to God. Everything connected with this holy ordinance should reveal as perfect a preparation as possible.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 97, 98.
The quotation given above is clear and to the point. I am sure that the reasonableness and propriety of the suggestions appeal to all. As there are always a goodly number to be baptized at our camp meeting, I should like to ask our churches that are supplied with baptismal robes to bring the robes to the camp meeting, that we may have them to use in connection with this sacred service. It is surely more becoming, at our camp meeting especially, that the candidates be attired alike, in neat and tidy baptismal robes, than that each be attired in a different garb, sometimes unbecoming to the solemnity of the occasion.—A. R. Ogden, in Workers' Bulletin.