The LDS Church has recently changed clothing requirements for both baptisms and initiatory rites at temples. With regards to baptisms for the dead, patrons used to be issued 2 white jumpsuits: (1) that got really wet for the baptisms, and (2) to be worn during the confirmation process. Due to recent administrative changes, patrons may wear their own clothes to participate in confirmation process, so I’m guessing that the laundering of jumpsuits has been cut in half, if not more. With regards to the initiatory rite (also known as a ritual washing and anointing), patrons are asked to wear their own white clothing and no longer need a “shield.” This has also cut down considerably on laundry at temples. Do you think this is the reason for the recent clothing changes, or is there another reason?
Church Policy, LDS, Mormon, Mormon Culture, Temple
Less Temple Laundry?
Wheat & Tares 
“With regards to the initiatory rite (also known as a ritual washing and anointing), patrons are asked to wear their own white clothing and no longer need a “shield.””
Excellent! All that getting changed and trying to get an initiatory done in time for an endowment session was extremely stressful! That would be the biggest plus in my book.
The time and space required for getting changed several times over would also be a consideration for the baptisms/ confirmations in my book. Particularly in busy temples with lots of youth groups booked.
Another consideration for both initiatory and baptisms/confirmations is the supply of white clothing required. More clothing means more expense.
And yes, I dare say it also reduces laundry.
This kind of stuff happens occasionally throuout the church–making changes to time-honored practices based on practical considerations. I think it’s just a result of some high-up church leader asking why we do something a certain way, and if the best answer they can find is “we’ve always done it that way”, then they consider whether it is doctrinal, whether it is necessary at all, do a cost/benefit analysis, and move toward changing it. One example that comes to mind is when they changed the endowment ceremony several years ago to be mostly seated, instead of getting up and sitting back down multiple times; the impetus for that change is unknown, but I’m guessing it was influenced by the concerns of elderly patrons, including GAs themselves.
The motivation for policy/practice changes might be external, like the social/political forces that brought about the 1978 revelation. Or it could be closer to home, perhaps coming from the concerns of their wives (word of wisdom, 2-piece garments). When they toned down the initiatory (about 2005 I think) they still kept using the shield until someone finally realized it wasn’t necessary anymore. I imagine somebody thought of it years ago, but the bureaucracy of the church made it take a long time to implement. I, for one, welcome the change to discard that ridiculous shield. I remember putting one on for the first time, already anxious about receiving my own temple ordinances, and thus began my suspicions that something really weird was about to happen…
It seems to me that this change was purely practical, for cost savings. The earlier change in the ceremony, though, probably had some external pressure behind it–reducing the touching and invasion of personal space which can be triggering for some.
Continuously improving and streamlining practices is, at least to me, one of the hallmarks of a church led by continuing revelation. And once in awhile, we actually get it right.
If it is about cutting down on laundry, perhaps we could include the white tube socks in the sealing room? Doesn’t compare in bulk to the baptismal or initiatory clothing, and I understand the intent of the socks, but they are quite unlovely to look at.
This change isn’t the result of revelation?
When I was a teenager going to the temple to do baptisms, we wore our own clothes in to be confirmed, then changed to go do baptisms, which sounds like the new plan. I’m glad to see it being reinstated. Having volunteered in the temple laundry, anything that can be done to decrease the volume seems like a really good idea.
Like Lori, I remember doing confirmations in regular clothes when I was in the youth program.
My experience has been street clothes for about the last three decades in three or four different temples. Maybe it has varied by temple. When I was a youth ca. 1975, I remember street clothes covered with what must have been an initiatory shield.
Same here, we’ve always worn church clothes to do confirmations. Even doing them we’ve just worn out white pants and white shirts.
Until maybe 20-something years ago, you had to be baptized first, and then be proxy for the confirmation of the same people you were baptized for. That meant that confirmations had to wait until the first proxies got out of the font and changed. Now they have some proxies start with confirmations and then do baptisms, not necessarily for the same people. Those who haven’t yet been in the font do confirmations in their white baptismal jumpsuits. Those who have done baptisms change into street clothes for their confirmations. I don’t recall them ever requiring proxies to change into a second white jumpsuit. That was at least in Dallas, Lubbock, and Baton Rouge, going back 30 years or so. Maybe Toronto too; I’m not sure if I ever participated in baptisms there.