Are Clergy Shirts Protestant?

The wearing of a clergy collared shirt is something most Evangelical Protestants associate with the Roman Catholic Church. But where did the clergy collared shirt originate from?

Wikipedia says the clergy collar was invented by Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod (note the citation is from the Glasgow Herald from 1894). Also, the date of 1827 given for the invention of the detachable collar is not a reference to detachable clergy collars but simply detachable collar shirts that everyone wore (see here).

Now notice who is THE Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod in Glasgow during the latter half of the 19th Century (he's wearing a band collared clergy shirt in the photo). Dr. McLeod is noted for serving as moderator of the General Assembly of The Kirk (see 1895) and delivering a series of lectures entitled: "The Doctrine and Validity of the Ministry and Sacrament of the National Church of Scotland."

So, Dr. McLeod, the inventor of the clergy shirt, or what one rather ignorant Reformed professor called "funny clericals", was a blooming Presbyterian!

Comments

[Jason Farley]

I think that the beard should be considered a clergy beard as well.

[Ed Eubanks]

Good post, Garrett.

I've always heard that McLeod was actually an Anglican (check the Wikipedia article-- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_collar -- as well as Ken Collins' notes -- http://www.kencollins.com/glossary/vestments.htm)

Which isn't to say that it isn't protestant-- just that it isn't Presbyterian in origin.

[Garrett]

Ed,

Take a look at the Wikipedia article again. It was originally unclear on who McLeod was but has now been revised. Also, Ken Collins is apparently relying on the same older data.

[Ed Eubanks]

Okay-- well, when I checked it last (right before I posted my comment) it said Anglican. For that matter, everywhere I've ever read anything about McLeod has referred to him as an Anglican. Do you have another source other than the ephemerally-reliable Wikipedia?

(Believe me, if McLeod was a Presbyterian, I'd be delighted to know it were so.)

[Garrett]

Hi Ed,

Did you look at those links I have above? In footnote 1 from the Wikipedia article it doesn't say McLeod was an Anglican at all:

http://www.saltforsermons.org.uk/sermon-illustrations/topics/clerical-collar/

I think people have assumed McLeod was Anglican since the Oxford Movement were the biggest proponents of clericals. Also,notice the Anglican paper on clericals utilized an article from the Glasgow Herald from 1894. I've looked high and low and can only locate one germane "Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod" who is in Glasgow at this time (which has a relatively small population of between 400,000-500,000 during this time period).

The "Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod" is: (1) A Presbyterian minister at the time (2) Is prominently carrying out his duties in Glasgow (Park Church) from 1869-1909 (3) Is wearing clericals in the picture shown in the "Who's Who in Glasgow article. Who else in the world could "Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod" be?

I think this is an obscure subject filled with conjecture and accretion. I believe the Presbyterian "Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod" invented the band collar clergy shirt sometime in the middle third of the 19th Century but served in a relatively obscure setting (the Kirk). This is at a time when the Oxford Movement (which widely adopted clericals) was gaining worldwide attention.

[Garrett]

Ed,

One more thing. It seems pretty clear that Scotland is the origination point of the clergy shirt since the Anglicans who researched the subject ended up in Glasgow (Glasgow Herald). So, is it possible there was an Anglican "Rev. Dr. Donald McLeod" in Scotland and Glasgow, in particular, during the Victorian era? Well, for that to be plausible he'd have to be a clergyman in the Scottish Episcopal Church (SEC). The SEC only had 124,335 members with only 324 working clergy in 1900:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scottish_Episcopal_Church

The SEC probably encompassed less than 10% of the Scottish church-going population of the day. So speaking of probabilities...

...I say McLeod surely had to be one of us!

[Valerie (Kyriosity)]

I changed "Presbyterian" to "Church of Scotland" for greater clarity.

[Valerie (Kyriosity)]

Jason -- Yes. Nothing on the chin that might obscure the collar.

[Ed Eubanks]

Garrett,

I did see the links in your post. I confess that I know very little about which groups were which in Scotland and Great Britain at that time, so much of what I saw and read was met with ignorant unawareness.

Please don't take that as just being contentious-- truly, I'm grateful for your efforts to establish a greater historical foundation for this. (I know, I know-- a PCA guy who ISN'T just being contentious; who'd have thought?)

[Garrett]

Ed,

I didn't think you were contentious at all and I've always thought you were a honest chap even back at CTS. So, no problemo. BTW I contacted Ken Collins and he was excited to hear of the possibility that Dr. McLeod was a Presbyterian. As soon as he can verify he said he was going to change that section of his site.