See Church That Allows Members Worship Without Clothes Because Jesus Was Crucified Naked (Photos)

England – A weird church known as White Tail Chapel does the unthinkable by inviting all worshippers to come as they are– exactly as God made them, that is, come and worship naked.

Pastor Allen Parker, the leader of White Tail Chapel in the town of Southampton, said he came to the decision to allow naked worship after concluding the clothing requirements of other churches were overly ‘pretentious’ and decided his own flock should be free to go nude if that’s what they want.

He believes he is in good company too, claiming many of the most important moments in the Bible happened while the people involved were nude, including Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.

The idea is that naked worship is ‘the great equaliser’. It reminds all those gathered in the church that they are simple human beings beneath their clothing.

The pastor leads the church by example, standing in his pulpit without a scrap of clothing as he reads stories from the Bible to the faithful gathered in his small rural church in Southampton, Virginia.

Speaking to CNN, Mr Parker said: ‘When he [Jesus] was born he was naked, when he was crucified he was naked and when he arose he left his clothes in the tomb and he was naked. If God made us that way, how can that be wrong?’

Mr Parker is believed to have drawn at least some of his opinions on nudity from the book of Genesis, in which Adam and Eve were originally described as ‘both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed’.

It was only after sinfully eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that Adam and Eve are said to have seen their nudity as shameful, at which point they sewed fig leaves into loincloths.

Although the church allows worshipers to attend services fully naked, many have decided they would rather continue to attend fully clothed, particularly when in mid-winter, while others opt to just reveal their breasts or genitals.

‘There’s not a feeling that you have to be better than one another, physically. We’re humans, we have scars, we have what we have. It’s learning to love and accept that,’ Mr Parker says.

The nudity is not restricted purely to preaching, however. Several couples have recently been married in fully nude services, in which all members of both families are encouraged to shed their clothing before the couple take their vows.

Robert and Katie Church were one couple to have a naked wedding at the White Tail Chapel, with Mr Church saying attendees were far more interested in ‘hearing the word of God and speaking the word of God’ than analysing the naked bodies on display.

Mrs Church wasn’t a nudist before the couple met, but says she has since come to love the experience of going to church in the nude and now considers her fellow worshipers ‘family’.