Ugly Baptism Pants Could Be Yours

Ray Rouse owns what are quite possibly the ugliest pants in the world.

The Levi's double-knit polyester bell bottoms are awash with a blue hounds-tooth checked pattern. They're a throwback to the days when ABBA ruled the airwaves and platform shoes were all the rage.

Mind you, these are not just any pants. These trousers are about as close as you're going to get to a relic in a Baptist church.

Rouse acquired them as a young pastor in upper New York state from a member of his church. The church member was passing them on from a neighbor who had died.

Rouse and his family were scraping by on a ministerial salary, so any handout was welcome. Then he got a look at the pants.

Rouse wasn't sure what to do with the ugly pants until he hit on an idea. They would be perfect to wear under his robe when he waded into the baptismal.

"They were too gaudy to wear anywhere else," Rouse recalled Wednesday.

So for years, the hideous checked pants were his change of clothes for baptisms on Sunday. He's got a picture of himself wearing them when he baptized his daughter.

The ugly pants followed him here to Spring Hill Baptist Church on Mariner Boulevard, where he's been behind the pulpit for more than 20 years. Rouse conservatively estimates he's baptized hundreds of people wearing them.

All good things must come to an end, though.

The decline of an era began about 12 years ago when Rouse handed over most of his baptism duties to the associate pastor, Joe Ferreira. The pants remained in the church closet though for the rare occasion when Rouse would need them.

At one point, Ferreira forgot a change of clothes and Rouse offered him the ugly pants. Ferreira adamantly refused to wear them. As youth pastor at the time, there was no way the kids in the church would let him live it down. The baptism was re-scheduled.

The ugly pants became a running joke between the two pastors. But Ferreira would have the last laugh.

On Sunday, Rouse announced to his congregation that the aging baptismal had been replaced. The new baptismal allows the pastor to stand in a small pit behind the tub and dunk the church member by reaching over the partition. No more change of clothes.

"All you have to do is roll up your sleeves," Rouse said.

The pastor concluded his announcement by telling the story of the ugly pants and put in some good-natured ribbing of Ferreira for good measure. The associate pastor responded Sunday night by announcing the pants would go up for bid on the online auction site eBay. All proceeds would go to the church's benevolent fund.

Rouse hoped someone would bid the minimum $10 just to save Ferreira from embarrassment.

When the pastors came to work on Tuesday, the bidding had reached $200. By the time they left for the day, it had reached $400.

"We really got a chuckle out of that," Rouse said.

To check out the pants, visit ebay.com and search for "baptism pants." It's the only double-knit, polyester bell bottoms on the list. Bidding ends Monday.