Why do Mormons dress up for church?

If you have ever been to a church service for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you probably noticed that the men wear suits and ties, typically with white shirts, and that the women wear dresses or skirts with nice tops. The children are also dressed up. You will hardly see men wearing colored shirts or anyone in jeans. Why do Mormons dress up like that on Sundays?

Mormons believe in outward symbols. In the Old Testament in the Holy Bible, we read that God had Israel follow the Law of Moses, which included many symbolic rituals and sacrifices that served to remind Israel of the Messiah who was to come save them. We believe that God still wants his children to learn from outward symbols. Therefore, on Sundays we dress up to help us remember that Sunday is a special day, a day to rest from our labors and to do God's work. We especially make sure that we dress up for church services to remind ourselves and our children that church attendance is extremely important and should not be observed casually.

The "Sunday best" dress code mentioned above isn't exactly a rule. The Church of Jesus Christ is a world-wide church, and you will find some variation in the definition of "Sunday best." But above all, remember that the way you dress is a personal matter and should be decided between you and God.

You may have also noticed that Mormon women typically don't wear dress pants to church. There is no theological objection to it, but Mormon culture doesn't exactly encourage it. My *guess* is that Mormons want to preserve the gender distinctions. Mormons believe that a person's gender is an important and eternal trait, meaning that we were either male or female before we were born and will be ever after. Considering that society doesn't exactly share our beliefs, we want to keep ourselves somewhat aloof from society's influence. Like I said, Mormons believe in symbolism. When the only ones who wear skirts and dresses are women and the only ones who wear suits and dress pants are men, a visual symbol of the distinction between the sexes is created.

It could also be that historically the women of the church have been wary of associating themselves too much with women who don't know and follow God's plan for us (the women "of the world"). When the women's rights movement made it socially acceptable for women to wear pants, but also did some more extreme things like burning bras, it might have been hard for everyone to sort out what changes were wonderful, good, and maybe not so good.

Ultimately, it's a good idea to wear something to church that is nicer than you would normally wear the rest of the week. That way you and your children can more easily remember to worship God and to honor his holy Sabbath Day.