Spring Break

I'm still wearing the collar... until March 20th. I will feel liberated when I can "be in the presence of another human being" (our assignment/experiment in the entry into ministry class) without sporting this unique fashion plate. Here is some info on the clerical collar:

A clerical collar is a piece of clerical clothing that that buttons onto a clergy shirt, being fastened by two metal studs, one attached at the front and one at the back to hold the collar to the shirt. The collar closes at the back of the neck, presenting a seamless front. It is almost always white.

The clerical collar is a fairly modern invention (the detachable collar itself is supposed to have been invented in 1827). The practice of Anglican clergy wearing a detachable clerical collar was invented by a Rev Dr Donald McLeod and became more popular through the Oxford Movement.

In the Roman Catholic Church, the clerical collar is worn by all ranks of clergy, thus, bishops, priests, and deacons--normally transitional but occasionally permanent; often by seminarians who have been admitted to candidacy for the priesthood, as is the case in the Diocese of Rome; and by college and graduate level seminarians with their cassock during liturgical celebrations.
Collars are typically worn by clergy members of other Christian Churches such as Anglican and Lutheran Churches. Also many Methodist, Presbyterian, Apostolic, Oneness Pentecostals, Non-denominational, and other Christian ministers wear collars. In some churches or locales this practice is discouraged because collars are assumed to be associated with Roman Catholicism.

In the United Kingdom, clerical collars are sometimes informally called dog collars. The term "Roman collar" refers to a style and does not mean that the wearer is Roman Catholic.