 |
| ...Pastor Allen Parker... |
A church
in the US state of Virginia has taken the bizarre decision to allow its
congregation to attend services in the nude. Clothing is option for everyone
from the pastor to the congregation. Members in this church worship in the nude
taking the statement “Come as you are” very literal.
Pastor
Allen Parker, the leader of White Tail Chapel in the town of Southampton, said
he came to the decision to allow naked worship
after concluding the clothing
requirements of other churches were overly 'pretentious', and decided his own
flock should be free to forgo such materialism if they desire. |
| ...White Tail Chapel... |
He
believes he is in good company too, claiming many of the most important moments
in the Bible happened while the protagonists were nude, including Jesus'
crucifixion and resurrection.
"When
he was born he was naked, when he was crucified he was naked and when he arose
he left his clothes in the tomb and he was naked," he said.
The
pastor is believed to have drawn at least some of his opinions on nudity from
the book of Genesis, in which Adam and Eve were originally described as 'both
naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed'.
It was
only after sinfully eating forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that Adam
and Even are said to have seen their nudity as shameful, at which point they
sowed fig leaves into loincloths.
 |
| ...seated at church... |
Although
the church allows worshipers to attend services fully naked, many have decided
they would rather continue to attend fully clothed, particularly when in
mid-winter, while others opt to just reveal their breasts or genitals.
You can
follow this on Youtube and witness a service in the White Tail Chapel:
 |
| ...singing... |
The idea
is that nudity is 'the great equaliser', reminding all those gathered in the
church that they are simple human beings and that, beneath any personal wealth
or glamorous outward appearance, they are all more of less the same beneath the
clothing.
“There’s
not a feeling that you have to be better than one another, physically. We’re
humans, we have scars, we have what we have. It’s learning to love and accept
that,” Mr Parker says.
 |
| ...pastor Parker preaching... |
And the
pastor leads the church by example, standing in his pulpit without a scrap of
clothing as he reads stories from the Bible to the faithful gathered in his
small rural church.
The
nudity is not restricted purely to preaching, however.
Several
couples have recently been married in fully nude services, in which all members
of both families are encouraged to shed their clothing before the couple take
their vows.
 |
| ...Robert and Katie Church during their wedding... |
Robert
and Katie Church were one couple to have a naked wedding at the White Tail
Chapel, with Mr Church saying attendees were far more interested in 'hearing
the word of God and speaking the word of God' than analysing the naked bodies
on display.
“Once
we were married, and we were here, this whole place became our family,” Katie
Church told WWBT. “I feel like I can turn to anyone in this church, or even in
this park, and they will be there to help me.”
Mrs
Church wasn't a nudist before the couple met, but says she has since come to
love the experience of going to church in the nude and now considers her fellow
worshipers 'family'.
 |
| ...preparing for church... |
People
who attend Whitetail Chapel don’t have to worry about finding something to wear
on Sunday Services. Pastor Allen Parker defends that God doesn’t care if the
believers wear clothes while they pray to Him. “If God made us that way why can
that be wrong?” says the pastor.
Members
of the church also explain it has nothing to do with being sexual but being
free from societal judgments.
“There is
no pressure to be anything other than who you are,” says one of the
congregants.
The
non-traditional church is part of White Tail Resort, a “family nudist community,”
according to its website and it opened in 1984.
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