Cover your bodies well when you go to church, priest tells congregants

Catholic priest in charge of St Peter's Oyugis Church in Homa Bay County, Father Tom Nicholas Mboya has expressed concern over lewd dressing by some churchgoers, which he says is perpetrating moral decadence.

Fr Mboya said he cannot keep quiet when his sheep go astray.

This became evident last Sunday during a prayer service at his church. Fr Mboya, who presided over the service, admonished people who perpetrate indecent dressing in church.

The priest told women and girls who go to church in indecent dressing to stop it.

"There are some ladies who come to church dressed in a manner that is not different from those who are walking on streets of Oyugis town. The truth of the matter is that they are indecent," he said.

He argued that indecent dressing distracts people during prayer in the church. Such ladies are dressed in a manner that grabs the attention of men who see them, he said.

"Failure to cover certain parts of the body interferes with people who have come to church as it distracts them," Fr Mboya said.

The man of God recalled a day when he saw a girl carrying a Bible that was going to be read during a prayer service dressed in an attire that "raised many questions".

The girl put on a T-shirt written: "If you love me, smile with me."

"What was written on the T-shirt was not good because adults could interpret it to mean something against the will of God. However, the message could look amusing to children," the priest said.

He urged parents to be keen on ensuring that their children dress decently.

The clergyman told the faithful to observe decency, saying Catholic Church members had specific attires they are expected to wear.

Such groups include Catholic Men Association, Catholic Women Association and the choir.

"All I want is decent dressing. This does not mean people buy expensive clothes. Just put on modest clothes that cover your body well," he said. Indecent dressing has become rampant in many churches.

The pastor in charge of Ratang'a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church in Ndhiwa Sub-county Denis Onjiko also said the habit had become common in most of their churches.

Pastor Onjiko said ladies who dress indecently have become so notorious and had intentions of seducing pastors.

"These ladies have known that pastors are also human beings like any other person who goes to church. In fact, some of them dress indecently ostensibly to make pastors fall in their love traps," Pastor Onjiko said.

He said there was another group of young women who were copying lewd dressing blindly from Western cultures.

What aggravates the matter is that some of the ladies are arrogant to their pastors when being corrected on the suitable attire in churches.

Pastor Onjiko said some of the women end up being at logger-heads with pastors who tell them to stop indecency in church. They accuse pastors of holding personal grudges against them.

"It is unfortunate some of the indecent women view pastors who correct them as people who have failed in their duty and are only holding grudges against them. They argue that women in many churches dress indecently hence there is no reason for admonishing them," Pastor Onjiko said.

But the man of God said he would not relent in condemning wrongdoing.

"We counsel them on the right attire to put on. Those who are adamant will face the wrath of God," Pastor Onjiko said.

Bishop Teresa Korinda of Jemi Hope Ministry said indecent dressing had become so prevalent in churches that it must be condemned.

"Many young women and some girls dress indecently but that is wrong. It is wrong for anybody to leave any of her or his private body naked in the church. Church is holy place," Korinda said.

She said indecency leads to temptations into sexual relationships by people who should be devoted to God.