Reverend Richard Aitken, from the Anglican parish of St John’s in Invercargill, said he had seen an Iranian man, Mr Shadmanian, who was not an ordained minister, wearing the clerical shirt and collar on numerous occasions.
“There is no right to wear the clothing of a minister or act as a minister of the church except by ordination,” Mr Aitken said.
Mr Shadmanian said the situation was one of a cultural misunderstanding.
“What the church believes to be a clerical shirt is actually common cultural dress in Iran,” he said.
“I never wanted to impersonate a minister and I think it’s a little unfair of someone from the church to say that I am.”
Mr Shadmanian initially told The Southland Times he had not worn a white collar but after being told Mr Aitken had seen him wearing a clerical shirt and collar on two or three occasions, Mr Shadmanian admitted that he had.
“I may have worn a dark shirt and a white collar a couple of times but I stopped when I was told not to by the church and during a personal visit from Bishop Kelvin Wright from Dunedin.”
Mr Shadmanian’s run-in with the Anglican Church began soon after he joined the congregation at St John’s parish.
He decided he wanted to start his own ministry working with the youth of Invercargill, he said.
Additional readingNews category: Odd Spot.
