Monday, July 12, 2010

Head Games








Well, you asked for it, so here it is! Yesterday there was some talk of head coverings on the blogs, and I mentioned that I wore one for my religion, so some of my followers wanted to know and see more. Mennonites have an extremely conservative history, and even today you can see many ladies wearing head coverings and what we call cape dresses. When I met my husband over 40 years ago, his dad was a Mennonite preacher and many in the family wore these kind of clothes, so I wore the covering on my head. But not all the time, like many did. Only for church functions and a few other times. The reason for keeping the women's head covered is in Paul's letter to the church at Corinth. But many would argue that Paul did not mean this for all time, or for all cultures, that it had to do with what was going on in that particular culture at the time. I won't go into it here, if you are interested, you can e-mail me. In some places in Japan, for instance, if a woman covers her head, it shows disrespect to the man. So the women there who took this verse to heart had to find something else that symbolized the covering. There are no pictures I can find except of my wedding, where my church did not allow me to wear a veil. I tried to show it from different angles. You can see other ladies wearing them, too. There were many different styles, and they were all held on by straight pins. Yes, you heard me right. I haven't worn one in decades now, and it's getting more rare to see them. Now if you want to see something quite extreme, CLICK HERE to see a group of Amish Mennonites playing softball, and what they wear on a ninety degree day. I have many other stories about our scandalous wedding cake disaster, wedding rings, skirt length, and bare arms. But that's all for another day perhaps....


"And every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head-it is just as though her head were shaved. If a woman does not cover her head, she should have her hair cut off; and if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut or shaved off, she should cover her head." 1 Cor. 11:5

18 comments:

Betsy Banks Adams said...

What a beautiful bride and handsome groom.... Did you get married in a Mennonite Church? Did Phil's father perform the wedding? When did you two switch to the church you are in now?? Does Phil still consider himself a Mennonite? SO interesting...

I would have recognized you in a heartbeat. You still have that gorgeous smile!!!!

I have no problem with people wearing headpieces--if their religion calls for it.

Thanks for sharing....
Hugs,
Betsy

From the Kitchen said...

You were a beautiful bride!! I recognized you and Phil immediately!!

And now I'm off to bed. It has been a long and exiting day!

Best,
Bonnie

From the Kitchen said...

Ginny, the post is my niece and her family. No, I wasn't there (boo hoo). They are in Columbia, S.C.

What are you doing up so LATE??

Best,
Bonnie

Jesson Balaoing said...

Thanks for sharing, nice post!

Dawning Inspiration said...

Beautiful bride - handsome groom - love your dress. Very interesting story - I didn't know that about the Mennonite's. Thank you for sharing - and please - fill us in on all the other details!!

Reanaclaire said...

wow..Ginny..that is u? 40years ago? great! what lovely memories when u dig up the good old pics.. i must also do the same.. except that it might bring me sad memories.. but then it is the will of God.. let thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven..

SquirrelQueen said...

What a lovely wedding, you were a very beautiful bride and Phil made a very handsome groom. I never knew that about the headpieces, very interesting information.

Melanie said...

Great pictures of you and your husband!
It seems there's been a lot about head coverings on different blogs I've read lately.
I enjoyed reading your post. :)

MadSnapper said...

love your dress, love seeing you and Phil way back when, you still look exactly the same except for a little (very little) older teeh hee
i knew about the head pieces because hubby is from Amish country, because my all time favorite movie is Witness with harrison ford and they wore them and because we have a very large Mennonite community here and a lot of the older women still wear them with the dark and long dresses. they eat out a lot and we see them in all the resutrants we visit.
until the late 70's, we never went to church without a hat on, just because it was the thing to do, no religion involved. i wore hats similar to the hats in your photos, held on with long pins, and we wore tiny little net hats also. loved seeing you in the past

Together We Save said...

Those pictures are beautiful. I am so amazed by your pictures and I have shown your softball post to lots of people around here. We have the amish here you know. (or at least I think I mentioned it)

Remington said...

Great pictures. Great memories.

Stephanie V said...

What treasured photos! You don't look any different now. Well, maybe older and wiser but still smiling. I recognized you both - so I guess neither has changed that much over the years.

Unknown said...

These are so neat! You were a lovely bride. :o)

I come from a long line of Mennonites; only in the last couple of generations have we lived off of communes! The history is rich and fascinating. :o)

Glenda said...

Love your beautiful wedding dress - and learning more about the Mennonites. In years past, we wore hats to church, too - not as a requirement but because it was "in fashion" to do so here in the south. We even wore gloves on special occasions! I still like hats - especially the big-brimmed ones.

Glennis said...

A beautiful couple, the head cover looks rather conservative but still good for a wedding, but I would add some wee flowers, however that may not be allowed!
Good to learn something about other religions, specially one that doesn't exist in our country.

Kilauea Poetry said...

Hi Ginny..well I love the old photos and think you look lovely-both of you nice of course! I've heard many stories and seen lots of pictures/movies-some. My mom wore hats (Catholic background). and the little lacy head covering. I'm actually glad much of this never wound up on my fret list as I think much of this tends to just cloud the vision. You gave this an interesting title! Now I think your header is absolutely stunning btw!!

DawnTreader said...

Interesting to get to see your old pictures, and wedding pictures at that! When I glanced through yesterday's comments I thought the question of head dresses had something to do with a special one for deacons, perhaps.

Back in my youth what I remember is that men took off their hats in church but women were supposed to keep them on. But it was only the oldest generation that still wore hats at all, and I was never in a church where head dresses were really an "issue". Although I remember bible study groups where we tried to 'make sense' of that verse.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue ι™ˆζ΄ι›ͺ said...

I have heard of the Mennonites, but never paid any attention.

That was a beautiful wedding, even though you didn't wear a veil.

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