Church uniforms as signs of piety: An exploration of the significance of church regalia in the United Baptist Church of Zimbabwe

Abstract

The church founded by the South Africa General Mission (SAGM) missionaries in Chimanimani, Zimbabwe, is now called the United Baptist Church (UBC) of Zimbabwe (Dube, 2017; 2022). Like other missionary-founded churches in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Southern Africa, its members wear church uniforms. Missionaries introduced church uniforms in these churches to foster uniformity and to distinguish between Christians and non-Christians. These church uniforms are only bestowed to certain members who meet certain established criteria, especially at UBC. The departments (youths, women, and men) have different church uniforms. While church uniforms are not a problem, the unintended consequences of having church uniforms that only some qualify to wear and not all the members have been quite a major bone of contention within the church. This article focuses on church uniforms in general and at UBC. The article is a phenomenological study of the phenomenon, presented from an emic perspective. It employs the theological approach to assess the relevance of church uniforms. It recommends that inside piety should be more of the focal point in African Christian churches, not church uniforms that only adorn the outside.