THE ARCHITECTURE OF THE CHANCEL. THE Church of Christ may be infallibly recognized by two marks, or characteristics. These are the pure teaching of the Gospel and the right administration of the Sacraments. In order that the Word and the Sacraments may be properly administered, some structure is ordinarily demanded, in which those may gather for whom the Means of Grace are designed. A certain part of this structure, however, must necessarily be reserved as the place from which the Word, read and preached, may sound forth; and in which the Sacraments may be applied to the people. "Order is Heaven's first law," and dare not be absent from the arrangement of our earthly temples. The specific place in the churches designed for the administration of the Means of Grace is popularly known as the Chancel. The name now applied to this section of the church is derived from the Cancelli, screens, or barriers, which in the ancient Church separated this part from the Nave, or main body of the church. In this discussion, the term Chancel is used in a general sense, and includes all that is commonly understood by the words, choir, recess, apse, and sanctuary. The time allotted to the presentation of the architecture of the Chancel and its essential furniture does not admit of an elaborate treatment of the subject. It will not be possible to outline the processes whereby some of the conclusions stated in this paper, have been arrived at. The object is merely to state results, and to furnish in brief and succinct. form some of the principles which ought to be observed in the construction and arrangement of the most important and suggestive part of our Houses of Worship. The aim throughout has been to keep in view the practical wants of our churches in this country. If the lynx-eyed critic should feel inclined to carp at some of the suggestions contained in this paper, let him rest assured that it was not prepared with a view to instruct the architects of Protestant cathedrals; but, to outline the best and most practical arrangement of the Chancel and its fixed, essential furniture for the House of Worship of an average Evangelical Lutheran congregation. In treating an important subject like this, we must ever bear in mind that we dare not break abruptly away from the line of our historical development, nor fail to take into account that healthful conservatism which has always marked our beloved Church, where her adherents enjoyed a due appreciation of her Scriptural doctrine, her correct usages and her glorious history. Nor yet, on the other hand, dare we be so bound by the opinions and practices of the ancients as to impair our usefulness and adaptability in view of the age in which we live, in spite of the fact that it manifests a strong tendency to exalt the practical and the utilitarian at the expense of the artistic and refined; and shows an alarming want of reverence for the wholesome usages of the past. The Nineteenth and the Twentieth centuries contribute their quota to the development of cultus and ecclesiastical architecture as well as the Ninth and the Sixteenth. In a consideration like this it is as unpardonable, to put it mildly, to be indifferent to the trend of the present in these matters, as it is to ignore the results of wholesome development in the past, and to refuse to profit by them. In treating of the architecture of the Chancel, we must in the first place decide upon its proper place in the church. The historical position of the Chancel is toward the East, so that the worshipping congregation always faces in the direction of the rising sun. To the devout mind, a number of beautiful and forcible reasons at once present themselves and make it self-evident that this is the most suitable place for the Chancel. If at all possible, the eastern position should always be selected for this important part of our Houses of Worship, not merely because this is in accord with the historical practice; but because it is eminently beautiful and suggestive. Our churches should be sermons in stone, and every individual part should be vocal with the exalted truths of our holy religion. The floor-space occupied by the Chancel in proportion to that of the whole church, is a matter worthy of special consideration. Many of our churches are marred by such smallsized Chancels as to give the painful impression that the Word and the Sacraments, instead of being of essential importance, may be suitably disposed of in an insignificant little corner. In begrudging the ample space which ought to be assigned to the Chancel, we manifest a want of a due appreciation of the importance of what takes place there. While unprepared to lay down a hard and fast rule stating the exact proportion which should exist between the Auditorium and the Chancel, one may safely say that there is no tendency manifesting itself anywhere at present in the direction of making the Chancel too large. One-eighth of the floor-space of the whole structure is not too much to devote to its exclusive use. In the majority of our churches, the Chancel may well extend throughout its whole width a short distance into the Nave. This will make it possible for the pulpit and Lectern to be stationed near the people. The floor of the Chancel should be raised from that of the Auditorium by three low and wide steps. 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. These liturgical stations are properly considered under the subject before us; for Baptismal Font, Pulpit and Altar dare not be regarded as mere portable articles of furniture; but as fixed parts of the Church in which they are placed. They are more essential to a proper conception of a Christian church than the walls. Let us take up the liturgical stations in their order, and begin naturally with the consideration of the Baptismal Font. In the great majority of our churches, a special Baptistry, like in ancient times, would be out of the question. The placing of the Font at the West end of the church, on the North side, is not practical in most of our churches; and no amount of emphasis laid upon the historic and symbolic significance of this place will ever make it general. There is only one other proper place left, and that is, at, or within, the Chancel. The center of the church, immediately in front of the Chancel steps, suggests itself as the best and most significant place for the Font. Here it will not intercept the view of the Âltar, yet it will be in line with it in the centre of the church. Resting on the floor of the auditorium, it suggests that Baptism meets us on the level of our natural life, bestows upon us God's grace, passes us on to the ministry of the audible Word from Pulpit to Lectern, until we finally, in proper order, attain to the Altar, with its holy mysteries and its celestial blessings, marking the most exalted point of worship on this side of the glories of Heaven. The Pulpit has been subjected to many and devious wanderings in the course of the Christian centuries. In the beginning the Bishop used to preach from his cathedra, in the Apse, back of the Altar. Whenever the Bishop did not |