Women's head covering

inquiry

Dear Sirs,
       I have been attending a Mennonite church with my wife for over a year
now. My wife had no church up bringing in her youth and I was in a Lutheran
church up to my teens. My wife and I were saved by the Grace of God on April
19th , 2001. We really enjoy the biblical teachings at the Mennonite church
but we have come to a major stumbling block in our learning. 1 Corinthians
11.
  We can not be members of the church unless we adhere to the veiling
practice and we cannot be Baptised in the church unless we are members.We
can't wear wedding rings or short pants or a whole lot of other things we
thought  were "normal" and be in compliance with the church ordinances. We
are getting kinda frustrated , we don't know what we should or shouldn't be
doing. We just finished reading the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation by
using a "Read the Entire Bible In a Year" reading planner. We are only familiar
with the layout of the Bible now and are planning to really study it this year.
  Should we look for another church where we can be accepted as members or
are the Mennonites right? Do you have any suggestions for answers
on the veiling practice ? We have read a barrage of books on the subject
but the more we read the more confusing it gets.Any help we can find will be
greatly appreciated. Should we just be happy as members of Christ's
church...........the one that matters most? We want to be involved with
the fellowship of other Christians but we are kinda like square pegs in round
holes where we are at. We both really want to be Baptised as born-again
believers but that looks impossible at this point if we stay where we are at.
We have built many friendships at this church but we are always going to be
different. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Your brother and sister in Christ,

response

The practices you describe are legalism pure and simple. See for instance,

http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/misc/legal.html

The custom of women wearing head coverings and veils was an accommodation
to the local culture in Corinth. The underlying principle was simply to make
clear male headship in the church and in marriage, see

http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/1corinthians/3593.html.

You might be interested in Ray Stedman's book "Authentic Christianity"
which should be helpful.

http://pbc.org/dp/stedman/authenxnty/index.html

reply

Thankyou very much for your response. I have been reading all of Mr.
Stedman's teachings and have learned quite a bit. We are reading our
bible everyday and finding more and more answers in Jesus's teachings
with every reading. Thank ou so much for helping us,
your brother and sister in Christ our Lord and Savior,