very surprised at the reaction at church.

[grizzbass]

My 12 year old son wore his kilt to our church sunday (Mormon) and was told by the bishop (a congregational leader) he couldn't participate if he wore his kilt. His older cousin was told by his bishop a few weeks ago when he wore his kilt in idaho that he wasn't welcome at church if he wore it again.
Has anyone else of another faith (or I guess the same) gotten such negative responces when they wear a kilt to church. Just wondering.

[jeremy j starche]

Never had that level of negative reaction at church ...

In my case, I was asked not to wear my church again and there was a very politely phrased reason given.

"Jeremy, the Spirit may be trying to talk to a visitor during the service. Seeing you in kilt may be enough of a distraction that that message doesn't get through."

But there was no angst ... no animosity ...

[artificer]

If you do a forum search for "church" you'll see that the subject has popped up from time to time. Reactions vary from the pastor/parson/father ending up buying a kilt after seeing one all the way down to threats of excommunication/brimstone/smiting/d@mnation...

Results vary wildly.

My answer to that situation would be along the lines of "yeah... when was the last time you saw a picture of Jesus in p@nts?", but I'm not exactly a church-goer either.

Welcome aboard X-Marks, it's nice here.
ith:

[McFarkus]

I wear my kilt to church every week. I've had really good reactions. But it's also a place where folks wear shorts and sandals in the summer

[xman]

Discrimination. How Christian.

[DougC]

As Jimmy Buffett says, "religions in the hands of some crazy *** people."

[piperdbh]

In answer to the OP, no, I've never had that happen. If you wanted to push the issue, you could ask the bishop for some sort of document supporting his forbidding the kilt, either in the B of M or D and C. I doubt he'll be able to find them, since Joseph and Brigham probably didn't encounter many kilties.

[Cygnus]

In all honesty, I'm on the fence about wearing a kilt to church. On the one hand, a kilt really is "the best" - they're well-made, expensive garments and really are excellent elements to truly make "Sunday best" your best.

On the other hand, like Jeremy said, it could be seen as a distraction to others - and I completely understand that.

My interest in the Kilt came about because of family history and a desire to feel a connection to my ancestors. The LDS church is all about family history. My third-great grandfather sent his wife and young children to a foreign country to travel across uninhabited territory while he stayed behind to preach for over a year. When he arrived in Salt Lake, he was a founding member of the Utah Caledonia Society. I have a feeling he'd have a thing or two to say - maybe reminding folks that the worth of souls, even those that wear kilts, is great in the sight of God.

I would schedule a time to meet with the bishop and ask the reason behind his decision and politely remind him that it is difficult to find youth that are interested in genealogy, and that you feel it's best to encourage your son in building that connection to his roots. You might want to mention that there are a good number of LDS men who wear kilts to church functions.

In the end, what the bishop says goes. You can take it up with the Stake President if you want to, but the calling of bishop tends to "expire" after five years, so you can always try again later.

Lastly, my Grandfather, upon turning 12, was asked to wear his best clothes and a white shirt so that he could participate in the church service. He came from a large family that didn't have much and his best was a pair of overalls and a simple white shirt. The boys teased him about his clothes so incessantly that he never went back to church. Boys will be boys, I admit, and I don't think anybody could place blame there, but I never had the opportunity to meet my grandfather because he died of lung cancer when my father was 17 - cancer he got from smoking. Since the LDS church preaches against the use of tobacco, I often wonder if I would have known my grandfather had those young men been a bit more accepting.

To summarize a long post, I think it's great your son wants to wear his kilt and I feel it should be encouraged. I am deeply sorry your ecclesiastical leaders don't feel the same way, and I hope you can start a meaningful discourse with them about it and come to a consensus that allows your son to wear his kilt at least some of the time.

There's a proud descendant of many Scottish pioneers rooting for you and your boy!

- Brian

[Riverkilt]

Where in the world are you? Can't be in Salt Lake Area - LDS folks there are all over kilts. Marty -Marshall Maroni on this board - has a bunch of pics - if he's not reading this thread PM him.

As mentioned kilts are part of heritage which LDS are into. Sounds like your local guy has a power and control issue.

Here's a pic of a kilted Santa in front of the SLC Temple



Here's Marty and his wife in front of the Temple kilted.



Here's Marty kilted at BYU



Here's Marty at the Sun Stone



Kilts and pipers are big in SLC and at Navoo(?) There are a bunch of highland games in the SLC area well attended by kilted members of the LDS church.

Your guy may be a bit out of touch with home base - maybe you could politely suggest that he double check with headquarters.

[KFCarter]

I've only received compliments and a polite question or two about the tartan. I'm truly sorry to hear about your son's negative experience.

What a sad thing to say to anyone: "not welcome at church..."