The Altar and its Vestments

The three liturgical stations in our Church, as accepted by all our writers upon this subject, are:—The Baptismal Font; The Pulpit and its co-ordinate, the Lectern; and The Altar. The place for the font is by almost universal usage fixed at the entrance to the chancel, on the floor of the approach from the nave. Here it will not intercept the view of the altar, yet it will be in line with it in the middle of the church; a place where it suggests that the only way of approach to the altar is by Baptism and faith.

The Pulpit is generally placed on the south side of the church where the chancel or choir joins the nave. Meurer says in his "Kirchbau," page 214: "The question whether the pulpit should be placed on the north or south side, in respect to which there has been no established usage, becomes for us simply a question of expediency; for the distinction between the women's and men's side of the nave, or between the Gospel and Epistle side, has for us no longer any significance. The south side might be preferred simply for this reason, because the preacher facing north, is at no time in danger of having the sun shine in his eyes." We would add to this that since the preacher will make most of his gestures with his right hand and thus unconsciously turn his right side to the audience, it always seemed to us that the south side was the more appropriate place for the pulpit. Since the custom of placing the organ on one side of the choir or chancel instead of in a loft over the west entrance is becoming quite common with us, and since the organ, when thus placed is generally on the north side we expect to see the pulpit maintain its old position on the south side of the church. It should be fixed as far out into the nave, i.e., as near to the people, as possible. Under no circumstances should it be combined with the altar, where it places the communion table beneath the preacher's feet; and care should be taken, especially in small churches, that it is not built so inordinately high as to compel the preacher to contract every muscle in his throat while looking down at his people who invariably go home with stiff necks after looking up at him during the sermon.

The Lectern is not commonly found in our German churches, where it is the general custom to read the lessons from the altar. There are a number of reasons to show that this custom is an objectionable one, and Lochner insists upon the adoption of the lectern, not only by urging the usage of the ancient Church, but by pointing to the use of the lectern in the Lutheran Church, as proved by the Leipsic Agende of 1681 and a description of an old Dresden church in 1717. He answers the objection that the necessity of moving from the altar to the lectern and back to the altar causes an awkward interruption, by pointing out that such interruption does not exist for the congregation which sings the "amen" after the collect while the pastor takes his place at the lectern and begins to sing the Credo after the reading of the Gospel. With us this objection also fails to apply, for the pastor approaches the lectern during the singing of the Amen and resumes his place at the altar during the singing of the "Praise be to Thee, O Christ," after the Gospel and before repeating the Creed. It should also not be overlooked that the reading of the lesson from the lectern saves the pastor the handling of what is very often a somewhat unwieldly (sic) Bible, which at times proves such a strain, that we have seen ministers lean against the altar, seemingly unable to support its awful weight. Besides, a lectern, where it is a fixture, decides for once and all where the layreader is to stand in case a service is held during the pastor's absence. The common form for this most useful article of church furniture is the eagle, the symbol of John the Evangelist, resting upon a pedestal, and its proper place is the north side of the chancel, opposite the pulpit. The Bible is to be placed on the lectern, but the place for the Book of Forms or "Agenda," is the altar. It is of this, easily the most prominent and important piece of church furniture, and of its vestments that we wish to speak. We have, however, deemed it necessary to mention font, pulpit, and lectern, not only because their place is determined by the position of the altar, but also because the hangings for pulpit and lectern must correspond in color and material to the season vestments of the altar.

The first visible accessory to worship of which we have any account was an altar. Gen. 8:20, and Gen. 12:7 ff. It's (sic) place is easily the most conspicuous in the entire church edifice, opposite the west entrance at the end of the center aisle in the choir or chancel, in other words, the recess or opse which corresponds to the coucha or testudo of the ancient basilica. This recess, in a Lutheran church, should never be built so deep as is the Anglican custom, where it is occupied by the vested choir as a sort of a minor order of the clergy, and very often separated from the nave by a rood screen, for in the Church of the Word the altar must be so placed as to enable every person in the congregation to see and hear every thing that is there done or said by the minister. For this reason it should also be sufficiently raised above the floor of the nave, so as to be readily seen by the whole congregation when standing for prayer. On the other hand it must not be too shallow, for it is the Lutheran custom to receive the sacrament inside of the choir or chancel, and not at a rail which separates chancel and nave, as is the custom in the Romish Church. This recess should have sufficient width and depth to provide plenty of room for all acts which are performed before the altar, such as Ordination, Confirmation, Marriage, etc. Nor is it according to the best usage to place the altar against the rear wall of the chancel, which is its usual position in the Anglican Church.

The Old Testament altars were, no doubt, square or oblong piles of stones. Our Church, though retaining this general form, builds its altars of wood or stone. The Reformed churches of this country use an ordinary table, and thus, strictly speaking, have no altar, but only a table placed on the floor below the pulpit platform where it is equally serviceable and convenient for any use to which pastor, deacons or committee on decorations may desire to put it. Indeed, they repudiate the very name and speak only of the "communion table." And yet, strange to say, the significance of this their communion table, so far as it has any, approaches to that of the Romish altar of sacrifice. For the Lord's Supper has with them, utterly lost its sacramental character. God therein gives them nothing; it is no real means of grace, but a mere memorial feast, where they show their faith in Christ and love to the brethren. They give and sacrifice, rather than receive from God. Just as a Romish priest at the altar claims to give and present to God "an unbloody sacrifice for the sins of the living and the dead!" The moment you go away from the Lutheran Church, you go towards Rome.

The altar in the Lutheran Church does indeed speak to us of a sacrifice, but it is the one sacrifice made for our sins forever by the one man Christ Jesus. (Heb. 10:10-14) It is thus the "Table of our Lord," the place where He gives us Himself with all His benefits, His body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. And thus we call the Lord's Supper, "the Sacrament of the Altar." Only secondarily does our Altar suggest to us that at this place, above all others, the church should, with uplifting of hands, offer to her Lord the sweet incense of the only acceptable New Testament Sacrifice, prayer, praise, and thanksgiving. It need hardly be pointed out that this conception of the altar is eminently Scriptural. First laying all stress on the words, "Take, eat, my Body, given for you; Take, drink, my Blood, shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins" it does not lose sight of the command: "This do in remembrance of me." Rome and Ultra-Protestantism both emphasize only "This do! This do!" and utterly forget everything that goes before. We, therefore, say again: the altar of a Romish church with its tabernacle and reliquary as well as the plain table of the Protestant sects differ radically both as to purpose and significance from the Altar of the Lutheran Church.

This truth must never be lost sight of in the ornamentation of altar and chancel. True as it is that the chancel, with altar, pulpit, and font, is the organic center of the whole church edifice and that here color and decoration must not be stinted, as the chancel gives character to the whole building, yet it is just here, especially in the ornamentation of the altar, that the canons of good taste and Lutheran usage are most often transgressed.

Lutheran usage permits and even favors the building of a reredos or screen upon the rear of the altar. The reredos must correspond with the general style of the church's architecture. The circular lines of the Romanesque style are out of place in a Gothic church. The reredos of the Anglican churches are as a rule, too low and squatty, probably because of their penchant for placing the altar against the rear chancel wall and their fondness for large East windows. In a Gothic church, we prefer a polygonal apse and side windows; if the rear wall is straight, use a rose window or some large trefoil design. Give the chancel plenty of light. To use dossal hangings instead of a reredos is rather an Anglican than a Lutheran usage. We do not favor them for they are seldom found in our churches, they submit to no artistic treatment, and, so far as we know, have no meaning.

All statuary and painting on the reredos must have distinctive reference to the redemptive work of Christ and to the Sacrament. To simply place any Biblical picture, regardless of its reference to the Sacrament behind the altar in a cheap gilt frame can hardly be called good taste. The ancient sacramental typology (Abel, Melchizedek, Abraham and Isaac, the brazen serpent, etc.), or symbolism (the Agnus Dei, the vine, a chalice, ears of wheat, etc.) can hardly be improved upon. If a picture is used, the Resurrection, the Ascension, the Institution of the Lord's Supper, or Christ's Agony in Gethsemane, are the favorite subjects. St. Mark's, Detroit, has the Lord's Supper in stained glass filling the whole rear wall of the chancel. The altar has no reredos and its top is on a level with the table of the pictured window. The general effect is very fine. A good subject for a window in the straight chancel wall of a larger Gothic church would be Christ's Coming to Judgment, in allusion to the "till He come" of I Cor. 11:26.—A slight and inconspicuous altar rail, always open in front of the altar, because of the spiritual priesthood of all believers, is permitted, not as a barrier to the altar, but as a rest and support to the kneeling communicants.

The Altar Vestments are the Altar hangings, the Altar cloth and the Chancel carpet. For a chancel carpet a quiet plain pattern should be selected and its color should harmonize with the general color scheme of the church decorations. Large, loud flower patterns must by all means be avoided. It is also not considered good taste to have crosses in the carpet pattern: it is not seemly to tread upon the cross. As a biblical reference for the use of a chancel carpet Liturgists give Exod. 3:5.

"The altar carpet of silk or other stuff, ought, according to the use of the Anglican Church, to cover the whole Altar, reaching to the ground," says Jebb, of the Altar hangings. This applies in our church, only where the altar is so poorly built, that it may not be shown without drapery. As a rule our altars are Gothic in design and the woodwork should not be hidden by the "altar carpet," which is either one piece of sufficient size to drop from the top of the altar to about one third of the distance to the floor, or a long piece, hanging the proper distance over each end of the altar, and provided with a strip to drape the front. The advantage of the latter plan of draping the altar is the prevention of unsightly folds at the corners, and the best taste requires that the altar be smoothly and plainly draped. Puffs and frills may have their place in a dressmaker's show-window; here they are out of place. Sometimes an Antipendium is used. It is a strip of cloth ornamented with some ecclesiastical design, about one-third the top width of the altar, dropped from the top center until it almost touches the floor. Only the best of materials should be used for such spreads; be it silk velvet, silk plush, or broadcloth. They are generally bordered with gilt or silk fringe and decorated with a short inscription or some appropriate emblem. The same applies to the hangings for pulpit and lectern.

To mark the different periods of the Church Year, our Church used the ancient liturgical colors for these spreads. They are five: Purple, White, Red, Green and Black. Purple is used for Advent and for Lent, beginning with Septuagesima Sunday. White is used for Christmas until Epiphany, for Easter, Purification, Annunciation and Visitation. Green is used for Epiphany until Septuagesima Sunday, and the whole Trinity Season. Red is used for Whit-Sunday and Trinity Sunday, for St John's day, the Apostle days and any festivals after Trinity Sunday. Black is used for Good Friday, days of humiliation and prayer, which with us is usually on Ash Wednesday, and for funerals. Thus Lochner; the Roman missal prescribes a somewhat different use. Lochner insists upon at least two colors as the minimum for our churches, Black and Green. If possible add Red, then White and Purple.

The white Altar cloth, which is spread over the season vestments, will be described in the article on the Communion Vessels and Altar Linen. Suffice it, therefore, to say again that it, with the season vestments, should at all times be upon the altar, whether the sacrament is to be administered or not. Bookmarks should be made in colors correspond with the season vestments. A description of altar ornaments, i.e., crucifix, lights, flowers and missal-stand, will form the subject of another article.

D. H. STEFFENS.

Lutheran Witness, Vol. XXI, No. 8 (April 10, 1902), p. 57-58.