Man Wears Suit to Church

Santa Monica, Ca - Almost everyone at Shepherd of Hope Church is still talking about it. It happened this past Sunday morning when young church member Christopher Lowe showed up at SHC wearing what some are calling "radical attire." Lowe came to the church's regular 11AM Sunday worship service wearing a sports jacket and grey dress pants replete with tie, black dress shoes (including matching black socks with small grey stripes) and a black leather belt with a gold-colored buckle. In addition, Lowe's hair was neatly combed and he had removed all of his facial piercings, even shaving off his almost permanent five-o'clock shadow.

"I just wanted to express myself, to be my own person for a day," said Lowe. "I think a person should be able to wear whatever he wants to worship without fear of being judged for it or looked down upon."

But not everyone shares Lowe's sentiments. After the worship service several people expressed their displeasure to one another about Lowe's apparent attempt to "draw attention" by wearing such strange and unusual clothing.

"I don't know if he was trying to prove a point or something," said Marcus White, a long-time member of SHC who normally sports a pair of shorts, flip-flops and a Hawaiian shirt to church along with his prized crucifix lip ring . "To me it seemed rather pretentious, like he was trying to just get people's attention and make some kind of statement. I just don't think that's right."

But despite some of the comments of displeasure, Lowe does not seem dissuaded, stating that he's not out to make any kind of statement, but simply to wear what he likes and what feels comfortable.

"I'm not trying to rock any boats here," stated Lowe. "I'm just doing my own thing. I'm not saying that I'm going to start ditching my earrings and Birkenstocks every Sunday, but once in a while I just might feel like doing something different, something kind of crazy just to be different and not go with the flow. If people can't handle it that's not my problem."