Space for worship
The other day I watched one of my daughters play with her dollhouse. It’s a simple dollhouse, but even so you can tell which rooms are for what purpose based on the wallpaper. That didn’t matter much to her. She had the tub in front of the picture window and the bed in the kitchen. The oven was in the bathroom and the desk was on the front porch. Her furniture placement made some sense to me. I’d enjoy a bath with a view and breakfast in bed. I’m not so sure about the oven–bathroom arrangement, but working at a desk on the front porch would be wonderful.
As she played, I thought of furniture in the other rooms. What does the furniture that we see in a room tell us about how a room is used? My daughter’s interior design techniques aside, rooms with beds are usually bedrooms. A sofa and an easy chair might mean a living room. Plumbing is the key to recognizing a kitchen or bathroom. And sometimes one room serves all of these purposes.
Think about the place where your congregation worships. When you walk into your worship space, how do you know you are in a place of worship? I’m a big fan of church architecture, stained glass windows and banners, but when I walk into a worship space, I’m looking for the baptismal font, the pulpit and the table. It’s possible to tell a lot about a congregation by seeing where these pieces of furniture are placed. Is the baptismal font front and center and ready to be used, or is it closed up and off to the side? Every time I walk into a worship space I want to be reminded of baptism — Christ’s, my own, and the baptismal promises I have made. What about the pulpit? This is the place where God’s Word is read and proclaimed, and it had better look like something is going to happen there. I don’t care if the pulpit is an old music stand or an ornate and hand-carved antique, I want to see it draped with the liturgical color of the day and with the Bible there, ready to be read. As for the table — are we gathering there for a snack or a meal? When we celebrate the eucharistic meal of our Lord, it’s a big deal. Set the table as if you really expect to eat with Jesus and your entire congregation. I’ve seen a sanctuary with a table big enough for thirty people to celebrate at once. That’s great. But if your table is smaller, have the elders sit around it and serve from the table as if it were large enough for everyone to sit around. We’re all gathered there in Spirit whether or not we’re physically sitting right there. Help the people in the congregation know that this is the case.
The furniture in a space for worship makes it a place for worship. Every member of our congregation (children, youth and adults) learns about our faith through what we do together in that place with the font, pulpit and table. What are we teaching them about Reformed identity?
Read what the Book of Order says about space for worship (W-1.3020).
At Grace First Presbyterian Church, Weatherford, Texas, the baptismal font is a huge chunk of indigenous rock with fossilized shells. The font was put in place and the sanctuary was built around it. Honorably retired pastor Fred Ryle served the congregation for over twenty-eight years. When Fred celebrated a baptism, he poured the water onto the rock and you could hear it throughout the sanctuary. An indentation in the top of the rock collected the water for the baptism. No one moved that font out of the way!
Let us know about your space for worship and your font, pulpit and table. Email us, send us a high-resolution picture, and we’ll share your story in the next issue of ideas! magazine. |
