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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: Lecterns and their like
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PD
Shipmate
# 12436
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Posted
One of the churches in Carlisle (England, not elsewhere) has a pulpit on rails. These days I think it tends to hang around somewhat left of centre rather than getting cranked all the way out into the middle of the Church.
In an earlier generation, when Anglican churches had been used as two rooms, there was a tendancy in some place to put the three-decker pulpit in the middle of the east end of the nave, with a gate on either side leading to the chancel where the altar table was the focus of attention. King's Norton, Leics, is a durviving example of that design, though there the Church is on the one room plan.
PD
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Angloid
Shipmate
# 159
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by PD:
One of the churches in Carlisle (England, not elsewhere) has a pulpit on rails. These days I think it tends to hang around somewhat left of centre
Not the Tory party at prayer, then.
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NatDogg
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# 14347
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:
The good thing about lecterns on wheels are of course that, if a sermon is being done there and is taking too long, someone can simply wheel it off.
![[Killing me]](graemlins/killingme.gif)
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Metapelagius
Shipmate
# 9453
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
quote:
Originally posted by Galloping Granny:
At a neighbouring church that our lot joined with one summer holiday, the congregation for some reason (they don't usually) avoided several rows of front pews. The minister was leading the service from a lectern in the centre; it turned out to be on casters and she simply trundled it down the aisle to where the people were.
Wilbert Awdry (the Thomas the Tank Engine man) once preached at a church which, he was surprised to see, had no pulpit. He needn't have worried: in the hymn before the sermon a choirboy disappeared behind a pillar and turned a handle. This caused a lectern to appear on rails (very appropriate) and trundle to the centre of the chancel steps. At the end of the sermon the process was reversed.
And no-one batted an eyelid - they'd all seen it before!
Great St Mary's in Cambridge has a 'pulpit on tramlines' arrangement, though there it looks to be that the pulpit is put in whichever position (side or centre) it is required before rather than during service. The centre position appears to be the rule for University sermons, at least on the few occasions that I have been there for one.
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ChaliceGirl
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# 13656
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Posted
Why are so many lecterns eagle-shaped? I never knew the significance of that. Is there a scriptural reason for it?
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Basilica
Shipmate
# 16965
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ChaliceGirl:
Why are so many lecterns eagle-shaped? I never knew the significance of that. Is there a scriptural reason for it?
I was taught that the mediaeval belief was that the eagle can look directly into the sun. The Bible, by analogy, is that by which we look directly into the light of God.
This has the whiff of a backwards justification to me, but I'm not sure either way.
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dj_ordinaire
Host
# 4643
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Posted
I've heard the symbolism of St. John as well, but also that it is a misinterpretation of images of the pelican. Pelicans were considered symbolic of Christ as the Mediaeval bestiaries taught that if their chicks died, a pelican could bring them back to life after three days by ripping open its chest and feeding them its blood (heraldically, this was blazoned as 'a pelican vulning itself', or if seated on its nest 'a pelican in its piety', as seen on the Arms of Corpus Christi, Cambridge).
As not many people had seen a pelican they were usually depicted as eagles.
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Comper's Child
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# 10580
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by dj_ordinaire:
I've heard the symbolism of St. John as well, but also that it is a misinterpretation of images of the pelican. Pelicans were considered symbolic of Christ as the Mediaeval bestiaries taught that if their chicks died, a pelican could bring them back to life after three days by ripping open its chest and feeding them its blood (heraldically, this was blazoned as 'a pelican vulning itself', or if seated on its nest 'a pelican in its piety', as seen on the Arms of Corpus Christi, Cambridge).
As not many people had seen a pelican they were usually depicted as eagles.
I'm dubious on this as certainly the "eagle-looking" pelicans would have been vulning themselves with chicks at their feet. As it is they appear to be eagles without progeny to feed. I am willing to be corrected, however!
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ken
Ship's Roundhead
# 2460
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by ChaliceGirl:
Why are so many lecterns eagle-shaped? I never knew the significance of that. Is there a scriptural reason for it?
Its the four living creatures in Ezekiel chapter 1, also known as cherubim, who continually sing praises at the Throne. They had faces like those of a man, a lion, an ox. and an eagle. They were used to symbolise the Gospel writers - Matthew a winged man, Mark a winged lion, Luke a winged ox, John an eagle. Probably just because of the order they come in with some retrofitted symbolism later.
John gets to be the one most associated with preaching and proclamation, so his symbol gets used most.
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Ken
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churchgeek
Have candles, will pray
# 5557
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Anselmina:
For the perspex lectern, one word: fingerprints.
That was my first thought, too! I'm a verger...
We have a Plexiglas Altar Book stand - it replaced the pillows we used to use, thanks be to God. But I find it helpful to use a little dish soap and water on it in the Sacristy every once in a while.
quote:
Originally posted by Baptist Trainfan:
Wilbert Awdry (the Thomas the Tank Engine man) once preached at a church which, he was surprised to see, had no pulpit. He needn't have worried: in the hymn before the sermon a choirboy disappeared behind a pillar and turned a handle. This caused a lectern to appear on rails (very appropriate) and trundle to the centre of the chancel steps. At the end of the sermon the process was reversed.
And no-one batted an eyelid - they'd all seen it before!
Haha! I've often joked about having mechanized furniture in the church (to satisfy people who feel the need for more flexibility than pews and a stone altar in the crossing will allow) - e.g., pews that fold into the floor like the third seat in a minivan, or a hydraulic system to raise and lower the high altar (it would have a sort of trap door over it when it's under the floor - no walking on the altar), or an electromagnetic system to keep the pesky little detached kneelers in a straight line under the pews... but who would have thought anyone would have actually done it? Besides, isn't the point of a nice, solid ambo/pulpit/lectern to reinforce a sense of permanence and gravitas of what's being proclaimed?
quote:
Originally posted by Rosa Winkel:
The good thing about lecterns on wheels are of course that, if a sermon is being done there and is taking too long, someone can simply wheel it off.
My co-worker once had to yank someone out of the pulpit! Our pulpit is concrete, built into its spot, though.
I was going to ask about the eagles too - thanks for the great explanations above!
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Pigwidgeon
Ship's Owl
# 10192
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
My co-worker once had to yank someone out of the pulpit!
Now that's a story I want to hear!
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the giant cheeseburger
Shipmate
# 10942
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by churchgeek:
Haha! I've often joked about having mechanized furniture in the church ... but who would have thought anyone would have actually done it?
I agree. Most people would be satisfied with using a sack truck or a low trolley or two with castors.
I wouldn't mind a trapdoor for the preacher though.
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PD
Shipmate
# 12436
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Posted
In my church the best place for the pulpit and lectern would be on the centre line of the building just in front of the apse. The trouble is that my old-fashioned Anglican congregation says 'it blocks the view of the altar when you come in.' However, if you are in the pews, the present position of both - you guessed it - blocks the view of the altar! ![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
I have moved the pulpit back as far as I can, and substituted a small reading stand for the old lectern, which as reduced, but not solved, the problem. However, in many respect we are still trying to get this building to work for us, at least now we are to the ironing out the bugs stage!
PD
[ 22. June 2013, 15:58: Message edited by: PD ]
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Olaf
Shipmate
# 11804
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Posted
PD, do you have a sacristy or room next to your chancel? If so, perhaps you could benefit from something like this, only smaller (bottom pic, takes a moment to load). Basically it would be a wineglass-on-the-wall sort of thing, but it need not stick out too far. A foot or two, if the nave is small. Have a doorway cut into the wall from the sacristy, and cover it with a curtain.
[ 22. June 2013, 20:09: Message edited by: Olaf ]
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Enoch
Shipmate
# 14322
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Posted
Perhaps the organ could come up out of the floor, with the organist actually playing like in an old fashioned cinema. It would be particularly appropriate for hymns like 'The day of resurrection'.
Many years ago, and I can't remember where, I read of someone being surprised when attending a church in Norway in the C19, where at a baptism, the font was winched down from the ceiling, and back up afterwards. I seem to remember she also said it was embellished with angels' wings.
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PD
Shipmate
# 12436
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Olaf:
PD, do you have a sacristy or room next to your chancel? If so, perhaps you could benefit from something like this, only smaller (bottom pic, takes a moment to load). Basically it would be a wineglass-on-the-wall sort of thing, but it need not stick out too far. A foot or two, if the nave is small. Have a doorway cut into the wall from the sacristy, and cover it with a curtain.
Yes, there is a room on both sides of the apse! It would be easier to place the pulpit on the north side, and I could probably combine it with a reading desk, however, it would be more comfortable on the south as I am right handed.
I like 18th century arrangements. That said, my "throne" - the building also serves as the unofficial pro-cathedral - would have to wander, probably to the southside if the pulpit went on the left. It is an intriguing idea, nonetheless.
PD
[ 23. June 2013, 03:59: Message edited by: PD ]
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