![]() ![]() This makes the service seem complex to the first-time visitor. In western churches, the congregation has a speaking role in the service that is, the clergy lead the congregation, who actually perform the bulk of the service. Surprisingly enough, this is not a contemporary innovation it goes back at least to medieval times. Many Roman Catholic churches have a semi-circular nave that surrounds the chancel, for a theater-in-the-round effect. ![]() With local variations, this floor plan is used by Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, and Methodist churches, among others. In this passage, the throne in the middle is the altar, the 24 elders sit in a circle around the throne instead of in a semi-circle behind it, and Jesus, in the role of the bishop, sits on the altar instead of behind it, because He is also the sacrifice.Ī modern church with this floor plan and a congregation of about 100-150 is as close as you can get to a New Testament house church. Ancient Christians found a glorified version of their church’s floor plan in Revelation 4:2-4. The bishop sat in the father’s place and the priests sat in the sons’s places. When the building became a church, the atrium became the nave, the dining room became the chancel, and the chopping block became the altar. The sons conducted the actual business under the father’s supervision. (The private rooms for members of the household were behind the dining room.) The father sat against the back wall of the dining room behind the chopping block, and his sons sat against the wall on either side. It had a chopping block front and center. At the opposite end of the room was the family dining room on a raised floor. When visitors came to the house to do business with the household, they would come through the front door into a very large room with little furniture. The ancient institution of the household included the functions of modern families and businesses you could say that the household was a family business. The basic elements of this floor plan come from the layout of first-century house, because the earliest Christian churches were house churches. Leaders face the congregation only during announcements, scripture readings, and the sermon. Leaders generally face the communion table when addressing God, whether in prayer or song, because they are acting as part of the congregation. There may two seats within the chancel railing, one for the minister who conducts the communion and one for a lay helper. The minister who delivers the sermon sits near the pulpit. The transept is a medieval architectural innovation.Īfter the congregation is seated, the choir, lay leaders, and clergy (in that order) enter in a procession up the aisle. The choir is positioned so that it can be heard, without consideration for its visibility. (As a result, the church is shaped like a cross when viewed from the air.) The choir might be located in the ends of the transept. The church floor plan may include a transept, a rectangular area between the chancel and the nave that is wider than the rest of the building. The choir may be located behind the chancel, to one or both sides of the chancel, behind the congregation, or on a balcony behind the congregation. Note that in some churches, the architect may have swapped the positions of the lectern and the pulpit for aesthetic reasons or because of the layout of the rest of the building. Western churches have pews, but in most Orthodox churches the congregation still stands. Any lecterns are in front of the iconostasis, placing them in the nave instead of in the chancel, as in western churches. In Orthodox churches, the boundary is an iconostasis. ![]()
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