@FunnStrict
I wish that I could answer your question with one word... either "bare" or "clothed". But, of course, nothing is ever that simple! I could answer with the one word "both", but that answer begs for clarification...
The church had guidelines regarding what was effective and acceptable. These guidelines weren't written down in a special place, like in a handbook. They simply existed in the tradition of the church. All parents, children, and other members of the church came to understand these guidelines on somewhat of a need-to-know basis.
In general, I grew up understanding that anybody at the church with authority over me had de facto authority to discipline me. For example, if I misbehaved in Sunday School, my Sunday School teacher would discipline me. If I misbehaved during Junior Choir practice, the choir director would discipline me. Pretty simple, really. Discipline meant anything from a reprimand/warning to standing in the corner for 5 minutes, or writing an appropriate Bible verse 100 times, or a trip to the chapel when the misbehavior was considered serious (or reprimands/warnings were exhausted). In the same way that there were various degrees of discipline short of a trip to the chapel, there were also various degrees of corporal discipline administered in the chapel...
1> Primary-Elementary boys and girls (grades 1-to-3) received either 5-to-10 swats with the "Primary" paddle (a thicker-than-average 12 inch ruler) across underpants/panties (for lesser infractions), or 5-to-10 strokes of the "Primary" rod (a short-thin hickory switch) across bare bottoms for more serious offenses.
2> Secondary-Elementary boys and girls (grades 4-to-6) received either 10-to-20 swats with the "Elementary" paddle across underpants/panties, or 10-to-20 strokes of the "Secondary" rod (identical in length/width to the "Primary" rod -- basically interchangeable -- a short-thin hickory switch) on-the-bare for serious offenses.
3> Junior High School boys and girls (grades 7-to-8 ) received either 15-to-25 swats with the "Junior" paddle (underpants/panties), or 15-to-25 strokes of the "Junior" rod (a medium-length/medium-thickness hickory switch) on-the-bare.
4> Senior High School boys and girls (grades 9-to-12) received either 15-to-25 swats with the "Senior" paddle (underpants/panties), or 15-to-25 strokes of the "Senior" rod (long-and-thick hickory) on-the-bare.
For better or for worse, in "the-good-ole-days", boys and girls were treated differently when being corporally disciplined at church, and nobody considered that to be discriminatory...
1> Starting in the Secondary years (grade 4 and above), girls were NEVER corporally disciplined by male disciplinarians (except fathers, grandfathers, older brothers, Deacons, Elders, or Pastors). Male authority figures delegated the corporal discipline of Secondary-or-above girls to authorized female disciplinarians, PERIOD. When delegating the administration of corporal discipline, the primary disciplinarian would act as secondary (witness).
2> In the Junior High years (grades 7-and-😎, the Junior High boys were not corporally disciplined on-the-bare by Senior High freshmen or sophomore girls. In those limited situations where freshmen or sophomore girls were in authority over Junior high boys, the freshmen and sophomore girls delegated on-the-bare corporal discipline of Junior High boys to male disciplinarians, or Senior High Junior-or-above female disciplinarians. When delegating the administration of corporal discipline, the primary disciplinarian would act as secondary (witness).
3> In the Senior High years (grade 9 and above), Senior High boys were not corporally disciplined on-the-bare by Senior High girls. In those limitted situations where Senior High girls were in authority over Senior High boys (ie: Junior-11 girls over Freshman-9 boys and Senior-12 girls over both Freshman-9 boys & Sophomore-10 boys), on-the-bare corporal discipline was delegated to a High School boy disciplinarian, or an adult (male or female) disciplinarian. When delegating the administration of corporal discipline, the primary disciplinarian would act as secondary (witness).
As you can see, our church only sanctioned paddlings with wooden paddles (for lesser infractions). And, thrashings with hickory-rods, for serious offenses. OTK hand spankings and leather whippings were not sanctioned. This was because of a strict interpretation of the Bible... that boys and girls should be chastised with a wooden implement (Proverbs 13:24) to "train-them-up" (Proverbs 22:6).
So, as you can deduce, my corporal discipline (my thrashing with a Junior-rod), that I received in the 8th grade from Rachel, the pastor's daughter, was administered on-the-bare. And, by the way, she was not authorized to discipline me because she happened to be the pastor's daughter, or simply because I was a Junior High boy and she was a Senior in High School, who happened to be offended when she overheard me "use naughty words in a very disrespectful context". Her authority/responsibility to discipline me was rooted in the facts that I was a member of the Junior High youth group, and she was serving as a Junior High Youth Group and Bible Study Leader. As such, she was in authority over me, and with that authority came the responsibility to discipline me if/when necessary. In other words, some random Senior High student could not just decide on a whim to drag some random younger boy or girl to the chapel for a paddling or a thrashing!
Final pieces of information regarding trips to the chapel...
1> Regardless of who was disciplining whom, a second authority figure was always present to witness paddlings (over underpants/panties) and hickory-rod thrashings (on-the-bare).
2> Paddlings (over underpants/panties) were administered at the front of the chapel, and everybody seated in the chapel pews, if any (other boys and girls waiting to receive discipline, and the disciplinarians waiting to administer it), witnessed swats being delivered/received.
3> Hickory-rod thrashings (on-the-bare) were administered in the the chapel's coat-hang at the rear of the chapel, and nobody other than the hickory-rod recipient, the primary disciplinarian, and the secondary disciplinarian (the witness) were in the coat-hang. There was no door into the coat-hang, but there was a corner that had to be navigated (similar to public restrooms without doors), so nobody in the chapel pews witnessed the strokes being delivered/received in the coat-hang, but everybody in the chapel could certainly hear the strokes being delivered/received.
So, for example, the hickory-rod thrashing that I received from Rachel in my 8th grade year went something like this...
1> Rachel firmly and deliberately (somewhat slowly) led me by the earlobe down the hall to the chapel, and on our way she stopped to enlist the participation of a secondary disciplinarian to assist and witness my thrashing.
2> When we arrived in the chapel, Rachel escorted me (still by the earlobe) over to the cupboard where the paddles and hickory-rods were stored. She told me to open the cupboard and retrieve a Junior-rod. This was when I first was certain that I was going to be receiving a thrashing, not a paddling.
3> Once I had selected the appropriate hickory-rod (a Junior-rod), Rachel instructed me to enter my name on the discipline log (My_Name/Junior-rod/Count/Disciplinarian/Witness). I asked Rachel what to put down for the count, but she said, "When I'm done thrashing your bare bottom, you will know how many strokes you've received", so I left the "count" blank. Rachel then escorted me (still by my now-throbbing earlobe) into the coat-hang.
4> Once in the coat-hang, Rachel let go of my earlobe, instructed me to hand her the Junior-rod, and instructed me to strip.
5> Once I had stripped, Rachel instructed me to "assume the position" over the back of the straight-backed chair.
6> Once I was in position, Rachel instructed me to brace myself, and to count my strokes out loud.
7> Rachel began thrashing me. I counted (1 Ma'am, 2 Ma'am, etc), while Rachel gave me stern mini-lectures between strokes... "Naughty words are sinful, young man."... "Disrespecting girls and women will always earn you the rod, young man."... "You're still going to be feeling this thrashing when you're butt is in the pews on Sunday morning, young man."... "How would your mother feel if she heard you use that kind of language about a woman, young man?"... Etc, Etc, Etc.
8> After the 24th stroke (only one stroke short of the maximum for a Junior High boy), Rachel informed me that my thrashing was over, and instructed me to remain in position while I composed myself.
9> Once I had composed myself (stopped crying), Rachel instructed me to get dressed, put the hickory-rod in the umbrella stand (used rods were disposed of in the umbrella stand), and go enter "24" in the discipline log. To this day, I wonder why Rachel chose to administer 24 strokes (such an unusual number, just one short of the maximum)... maybe she just wanted it to bother me for the rest of my life... LOL.
10> Rachel assured me that all was forgiven. She warned me that nothing like this should happen again, and that if there was a "next time" my discipline would be delegated to the pastor (who happened to be her dad), who would, "not go so easy on me" (?!!?). She reminded me that it was my responsibility to confess my sin to my parents. She prayed with me. And she escorted me back to the Junior High Youth Lounge, but not by my earlobe.