[EricT.]

My church has a dress code only for people who are actively working in a ministry involved in worship services. We must not wear shorts and flip-flops, and that’s about it. People who come to worship God are free to come just as they are as long as it’s legal. We don’t believe in shutting out people from worshiping God because of how they look.

[so_real]

As I said in another post, it's about pride and humility -- not about "how they look". Churches establish dress codes to promote humility and discourage pride. No church of which I am aware discourages worship based on how people look. The point is, private establishments (like your church and this restaurant) have the right to establish and enforce dress codes (no matter how mild or severe) and the participants (including those active in your ministry needing to wear flip-flops) must either humbly request to be made an exception to the rule or abide by it. There is no benefit to be found in using social outrage to denigrate dress codes. The unintended consequences will affect us all negatively.