Category: Church

A few more notes on the SBC Guideposts sex abuse report, now that the SBC annual meeting has come and gone:

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Category: Liturgy

 [In 2007, I wrote this essay for a compilation of articles on Reformational liturgy. The project was going to be edited by the late Gregg Strawbridge. Gregg had already edited books of essays on baptism and paedocommunion, so the book on liturgy would complete the trilogy. Alas, too many other contributors got sidetracked and the project never fully materialized. I was pleased with my essay and would be glad for it to get a wider reading. My aim was to survey the background to Reformed worship to demonstrate the surprising richness of our tradition and look ahead to how biblical theology could further improve and sharpen our worship practices going forward. The essay has been available on our website for along time, but I figure I'd put it on the blog as well.]

 

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Category: Church

Regular church attendance and formal church membership are important biblical teachings.

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Category: Sacramental Theology

This is an email I sent to the TPC congregation in October 2009 explaining why we have our baptismal font at the doorway into the sanctuary and why we do our baptisms from the location rather than from the front of the sanctuary. It has a few other details about liturgical practices that might be of interest.

 

You may notice that we do baptisms at the entrance to the sanctuary.

The placement of the baptismal font at the entry point of the sanctuary is not accidental. It serves an important symbolic purpose. Because baptism is the means by which we enter the church (as virtually all Christians agree; cf. 1 Cor. 12:13 and Westminster Confession 28.1), it makes good sense to keep the font there as a reminder of this truth. Each week as we enter the worship service, passing by the font helps us to remember that we are God's baptized people. We have access to God only because we have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus and have received the outpouring of God's Spirit in baptism. We are invited to draw near to God in the heavenly most holy place "having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb. 10:19-25). In baptism, God ordained us as members of his royal priesthood in Christ so that we are qualified to minister and offer sacrifice in his presence. We are clothed with Christ as our priestly garment (Gal. 3:27-28) and share in his anointing of the Spirit (Acts 2:33, 38).

Since baptism is our entry point into the covenant community, it makes sense to have the font and perform baptisms at the church's entrance. In this case, the layout of the church and biblical theology match and reinforce one another. This symbolic practice of performing baptisms at the church entrance traces back to the earliest Christians, and continues to be an architectural feature of many church buildings in many different Christian traditions in our own day. A Lutheran theologian makes the following remark:

While only a bowl is needed for baptism, the font is usually much more elaborate than that in order to emphasize the importance of baptism. Since baptism is the sacrament of initiation or entrance to the church, it is becoming much more common to place the font at the entrance...This position results in excellent symbolism. As worshipers enter church...they pass the font which serves as a visual reminder that we can come into God's presence because our sins have been washed away in baptism (Psalm 24: 3-4). Pushing the font off in a corner should be avoided. Because baptism is important the font should be substantial and have a prominent place of its own.

Liturgical theologian Ken Collins notes the origins of placing the baptismal font at the back of the sanctuary in the first house churches:

In a Roman house, the household’s water source was in the atrium just inside the front door. When early Christians converted a house to a church, that water source became the place where baptisms could take place if it wasn’t possible to baptize outdoors. Even though the position of the baptistery was determined by the existing architecture of the house, it took on a symbolic meaning, because baptism is the entrance to the Christian life.

If you've been in very many older church buildings or cathedrals, you have no doubt seen baptismal fonts placed near the sanctuary's threshhold. In keeping with this long and venerable tradition, we will do our baptisms at the entrance from now on. We know this will be a bit different than what most folks are used to -- and will also require people to crane their necks around to the back to witness the event. But such minor inconveniences are worth it in order to preserve such beautiful and deeply rooted theological symbolism.

 

Category: Liturgy
Around 2009, Trinity Presbyterian Church moved into a new worship facility in Cahaba Heights. We renovated the building, especially the worship space, and that included getting new liturgical furnishings. The blog post below is an email I sent out to the congregation on September 13, 2009 to introduce the congregation to our new communion table. We have since moved to a new building in Hoover but because we still use the same communion table, I thought some background information on it might be interesting for folks who have joined our church since its introduction.
 
I wanted to say a word or two about the new communion table/lectern we're using in the sanctuary. The table has been provided by the Weizenecker family and is the craftsmanship of Seth Weizenecker. It is a beautiful and well-built piece of furniture that should serve us well for years to come.
 
With the new building, we wanted a communion table that "fit" our space and our "arts and crafts" architectural style well. When I was on John's fifth grade class trip to Washington, DC last February, we toured the National Cathedral and I saw a trestle table in one of the chapels that I thought would work well for our new building. I passed on a picture and the basic concept to Seth and he went from there, vastly improving upon my initial suggestion. The result is what you see front and center on Sunday mornings.
 
Why a trestle table? Trestle tables started to be used for the Lord's Supper at the time of the Reformation. The early Protestants dismantled (and often destroyed) the large, ornate altar tables that had been in use in the medieval period as a way of marking their rejection of the doctrine of transubstantiation and other aspects of medieval theology. Trestle tables were easy to assemble and disassemble, and in many instances several tables were set up after the sermon and before the the communion meal began so that everyone could eat the Lord's Supper sitting at a table.
 
At the time of the Reformation, trestle tables were common in ordinary households so they were readily available for church usage. (Incidentally, my family's kitchen table at home is a trestle table!) By bringing ordinary "family tables" into the liturgy, another Reformed doctrine was showcased, namely, the sanctity of ordinary life. Many medieval Christians had a dualistic theology: if you were really spiritual, you would leave family and work life behind, and enter a monastary. Family life was for "second class" Christians.
 
The Reformers became convinced that the active life of marriage, raising children, and working a regular job pleased God just as much as the contemplative life of the monastery. Martin Luther went so far as to suggest that monastic life could be turned into a self-serving quest for salvation, rather than living a life of sacrificial, self-giving service to family and neighbor in the community. The Reformers argued that we do not need to abandon or escape our earthly stations in order to serve God; rather, we serve God and neighbor by carrying out these ordinary vocations with excellence. (Incidentally, while still reserving a place for monastic life and orders, the Roman Catholic Church has come to embrace the original Protestant doctrine of vocation in the main. See Lee Hardy's fine work, The Fabric of This World for details on this wonderful ecumenical convergence.)
 
The Reformers began using household bread, household wine, and household tables in church in order to symbolize the truth that one does not need to leave the world in order enter the kingdom; rather, God's kingdom comes into the world to bring about its comprehensive renewal and transformation. Whereas the medievals used "special" bread and "special" tables in church, the Reformers used "common" bread and "common" tables, pointing out that Jesus and the Spirit make what is common holy and pleasing to God (1 Tim. 4:1-5). The kingdom of God is not a realm separate from this world, but precisely this world restored, transfigured, and glorified.
 
Why does the pastor now conduct the entire service (including the sermon) from the table? We believe that the Lord's Supper is the climax of the Lord's Service each Sunday. This is not because the sacrament is more important than the word; if anything, they are equally important and one cannot properly function without the other in the liturgy. Rather, the Supper is the climax because it is the supreme act of covenant renewal. In communion, we receive Christ and experience fellowship with him and with one another in an utterly unique way. In Acts 20, we find that when Christians gathered on the first day of week, they came together for the express purpose of breaking bread together (Acts 20:7). Sure, they heard a sermon too (and a very long one at that!) -- but the breaking of the bread was the culmination of the gathering. Luke's record is clear about the rationale for Sunday meetings: "Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread..."
 
Since we come together to break bread, it is fitting for the entire service to take place at the table. We are a family; families gather at tables. The whole service is leading up to what we do at the table. Even the Scripture readings and sermon are "table talk," to use Martin Luther's term. Luther viewed the pastor as a father figure, speaking to children gathered around the family table. I do not think that metaphor exhausts everything preaching is supposed to be, but it's a helpful angle on what's happening in the sermon and suggests that preaching from the table is perfectly appropriate. The bottom line is that by conducting worship from the table, we are better able to integrate the service (no movement from pulpit from table) and call attention to the familial aspect of the liturgical gathering. 
 
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Here are snippets from a few church historians on the usage of trestle tables at the time of the Reformation:
During this period in English Church history stone altars were dismantled and removed from English churches and replaced with "honest boards" supported on trestles or "frames," or legs. The use of the term "altar" with its sacrificial associations was dropped and replaced by terms like "the Lord's table" or "the holy table." The table was placed in the knave of the church or at the steps of the chancel where the congregation could hear and see everything. The table was placed lengthwise and the minister stood at the north side or north end of the table. Standing in front of the table, facing the east, was too strongly associated with the doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass rejected by the English Reformers with the doctrine of transubstantiation.
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The liturgical altar of the Roman mass gave way to the long communion tables of the Reformed rite flanked by benches upon which the communicants sat. At first, such tables were temporary structures, consisting of boards and trestles which were erected for the adminstration of the sacrament and were thereafter dismantled...(from Scottish Post-Reformation Church Furniture by George Hay)
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The "communion table" is a table for the Lord's Supper, introduced by the Protestant Reformation as a substitute for an altar, and to mark their protest against the doctrine of transubstantiation inculcated in the Sacrifice of the Mass. At first, it was nothing more than a board set on trestles, and this was often taken apart and placed on one side when not in use; later it took the form of a domestic table.... (from A Dictionary of Architecture and Building by Russell Sturgis)
 
  1. The Church Is Not Optional (Sermon Follow Up)
  2. TPC's Bright Vision in a Dark Age
  3. The Failure of Feminism and Modern Liberalism
  4. Life in the Father's House: Why Should I Join a Church?

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