Form Follows Function

Good design, whether it is in decorating or architecture, is functional as well as beautiful. I might even say that functionality enhances beauty. The Altar area of a church should not only “please the eye” but also function well. And when you think about the “practical functions” of worship, they are not solely for reading, speaking and singing, serving communion and baptizing new members. The focal center, the place where all our eyes are drawn, ought to call our attention to the most significant areas of our faith. Naturally, in churches you will see a lot of crosses and images of Jesus, as it should be. But pay attention to the other items that occupy a prominent place in Christian worship. It is no accident that these items are displayed front-and-center to remind us of what God has done and how our worship is an attempt to model our faithful response to God’s saving work. In this way, our worship-space décor is immanently “functional.”

Baptismal Font & Altar Table – Besides functioning as the tools of baptism and communion, the Font and Table serve as constant signs of our covenantal relationship with God. We enter into personal covenant with God and the body of Christ through baptism, and communion reminds us of Jesus’ new covenant, opening to anyone the way to reconciled relationship with God. The Table also reminds us of the ways that Jesus broke barriers through his radically open table fellowship – in Christian worship we gather at the Lord’s Table, making room for any and all who come and binding us together into one community.

Pulpit and/or Lectern – the place where the Bible is read and proclaimed. Again, the prominent place occupied by the Pulpit signifies the centrality within the Christian faith of God’s word revealed in the scriptures.

Another focus of our worship space is less obvious but is intentionally symbolized, the marking of Time. Throughout its history, the Church has marked time through color. Our twice-yearly cycles of preparation (purple), celebration (white), and growth (green) remind us to attend to all aspects of our faith. In addition to our high celebrations at Christmas and Easter, faithful lives also lead us to acknowledge our need for change and redemption and to claim the growth made possible through God’s redeeming work.