An Introduction To The Primary Visual Arts In Worship

There are three primary liturgical furnishings for the setting of worship: the pulpit, the Table (or altar), and the baptismal font (or pool). The size, shape, and placement of these furnishings vary according to the setting in which worship takes place. The following comments relate to the current understanding of the place and function of the primary symbols in a renewal worship. The Pulpit In the early church there was no such thing as a pulpit. Pulpits were invented during the medieval era and did not become popular until the fifteenth century. In England, pulpits did not become standard until 1604 when James I ordered that pulpits be established in every church. In liturgical churches, a divided chancel promoted the use of two pulpits, one for the readings of the Old Testament lessons and epistles, another for the reading of the gospel and the sermon. Protestants insisted on one central pulpit, usually placed on a raised platform with the Table under the pulpit on the level whe…