My name is Jeannine.  I have been a born again Christian for 14 years.  About six years ago I was reading 1 Corinthians 11.  I kept reading verse six over and over.  Just reading it in English seemed to say that an actual head covering was required of women.  I even discussed it with a friend and she kept pointing to verse 16 that says the hair is the covering.  But, I just could not reconcile the two verses.  It seemed to say that if a women will not wear a head covering she ought to cut it off.  How could she cut off what was not there if hair was the only covering.  

After this discussion I laid the issue aside for a whole year.  Then in September of 2000 the Lord began asking me to read it again.  He asked me to research.  I began to research everything I could get my hands on.  I searched the internet and I was surprised to find out that there were many other ladies out there wearing a head covering because of the command in 1 Corinthians 11.  I read the original Greek and found out that the two words for covering were different.  I read a wonderful exegesis on the text that explained that it was much more than a piece of cloth, but it was to bring glory to God because of the angels.  And that it has to do with creation order.  I also searched out every commentary I could find, most said it was a literal head covering.  Vines expository dictionary said the same thing.  

Then came the realization that historically Christian women have always worn the head covering at least to worship services.  But, something happened in the late 1800's that coincided with the removal of the veil.  It was the rise of the modern feminist movement.  The two I believe go hand in hand.  The feminism in the hearts of the ladies caused them to first of all remove submission from their hearts, then to remove the outer symbol.  That is why now when a lady gets a new conviction to wear one she is usually met with contest from other Christian ladies.  Sad, but true, this was part of my experience. 

But, this part also led to a blessing.  The blessing was that because of disregard for this Scripture in most churches the Lord led us to seek out a Scriptural church.  We found that the disregard for this verse was a symptom of a much greater problem.  The problem that we found was a lack of regard for other Scriptures as well, many about the women's roles, modesty and marriage.   

The Lord led us to learn more about Anabaptism and currently we are meeting with like-minded believers who do not disregard this verse or the others I was speaking of. Wearing the headcovering exposed other areas in my life that the Lord wanted to work on.  I was also able to move on in my Christian walk and look for God's approval in other areas as well.  It was just one step in my Christian walk that the Lord used to get me to the place where I could walk closer to Him.  Since that time He has shown me many other things and I am thankful that He is teaching me all the time, new things.  What a blessing it is to walk in obedience with a Savior who loves us so much that He laid down His own life for us.  How could we give Him any less than our complete obedience? 

Mrs. Richard D.