A TOUR OF OUR WORSHIP SPACE
Have you ever looked around while sitting in a pew and wondered what it all means. The red doors, the stained glass, the flags, the crosses lining the walls, the altar and the candle hanging from the ceiling. Too many times, things like this become common place and we fail to notice them but everything in our church is meant to be part of worship. Let’s take a walk.
Why is our doors painted red? You might call it tradition, you might think it’s a snappy color but there is a deeper reason. Like many churches, we use red to let the world know what we are about. Red is the color of Christ’s blood. It is the symbol of the sacrifice of the martyrs and it is the presence of the Holy Spirit. It marks the holy ground that lies just beyond those doors. It tells the world that we are safe place, we are a peaceful place and we are a place of refuge. Like hospitals display a red cross, we also like to advertise that we too are a place of healing and restoration. I like to think that our parish helps the wounded put their lives back together, provides comfort in time of need, and is open to all who knock.
As we go through the front doors, we are now in the narthex. Narthex means an entrance hall and gathering space of a church building which leads to the nave. Some churches may refer to this as a foyer, entrance way or vestibule but Episcopalians speak their own language. Ours is rather small compared to others I have been in but it is a nice place to greet and because of its size it is hard to be missed.
Nave comes from the Latin word for “ship”. It is the section of the church building between the narthex and the chancel where the congregation assembles for worship. As you enter, if you look up, you will see the wood beams and the wood paneled ceiling in a V shape, almost looks like the bottom of a ship. While you are looking up notice the flags, there is a United States flag and a Pennsylvania State flag, a Episcopal church flag and a St. Andrews flag. Many churches do not display the U.S. Flag and the State flag sighting the separation of church and state. I believe by flying these flags we honor our country and state that gave us the freedom to be where we are and the men and women who served this country to insure that freedom.
The Episcopal flag was presented to the General Convention of the Episcopal Church about 1923 but it wasn’t adopted until 1940. The flag’s symbolism can be described as: “The red cross is the oldest symbol, dating back to the third century. The white represents purity and the red, the blood of the martyrs. The blue is ecclesiastical blue, light in color and used in the clothing of the Blessed Virgin Mary and, on this flag, represents the human nature of our Lord which he got from his virgin mother. The nine cross lets or Jerusalem crosses represent the nine dioceses that convened in Philadelphia in 1789, when the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church was adopted. The nine cross cross lets are set in the form of a St. Andrew’s cross in memory of the fact that, to avoid swearing allegiance to the British Crown, Bishop-elect Seabury of Connecticut had to go to Scotland to be consecrated by Scottish bishops”. The St. Andrew’s flag is in honor of our patron saint, Andrew.
Along the walls you will see a wood border with St. Andrew’s crosses and St. George’s crosses. The St. Andrews crosses are in honor of our patron saint and the St. George’s crosses is in honor of our link with the Church of England. You will also see the same pattern of crosses on the window sill stands.
We know that our stained glass windows were made in England by a company located just outside of London, we know this by the color of the yellow glass, there were only a few companies making this color but we have no records on which one it was. The idea behind stained glass, and many furnishing in Episcopal churches, is that the presence of beautiful objects can lift our souls closer to God. Like nature, stained glass windows open our eyes to the wonders of God. They remind us of our past and point us to the future. When we look at stained glass we see God’s story played out in myriad different levels. And when we think about it, that’s really not a bad way to look out at the world.
We will finish our tour next week.