Ask the Pastor: Work in the church, saints raised, and church architecture
by the Rev. Walter Snyder
Religion Columnist
     Q: My problem is I feel slightly guilty not becoming an active participator in the church.
Am I displeasing God by not using my talents in the church?
     A: The Church is not a place to look for guilt, but to be forgiven and have guilt taken away.
Serving in the house of the Lord is commendable, be it as pastor, teacher (day school, Sunday
school, VBS, or other), candle-lighter, organist or other musician, choir member, soloist, or member
of one of the service groups and societies. So is becoming active in the upkeep and outreach of the
congregation as time and talent allow.
     However, the best (and most blest) place to serve is in your everyday life, taking the Lord
home, to work, school, or wherever you find yourself. All too often, people think that to truly serve
God, they need to do their service in the church, especially by attending many meetings. Yet this can
take us away from our neighbors in need, including our own families. God doesn't need our service;
people do. Ultimately, God serves us in church through the forgiveness of sins and the strengthening
of faith so that we can go out from the church to serve others where God has placed us.
     Q: You know that Jesus died and rose again. At the same time Christ rose, the Scripture
says the saints rose out of their graves and appeared to the people. Do you have any ideas on
who the saints were?
     A. No, I don't. They may have been recently departed or from the ancient days of Israel. I
think it's possible that whomever they were, they were among those whose faith in the promised
Messiah was most profound or most evident to those among whom they'd lived.
     Q: Why is our baptismal font so near the door?
     The placement of fonts varies from. In some churches, it's outside the nave (main body of the
church) and baptisms are done in the narthex (foyer), then the new Christian is brought into his
spiritual home afterwards. Other churches have the font up front, while still others have baptisms in a
side room or elsewhere. In some cruciform (cross-shaped) churches, the baptismal area is located in
one of the cross arms. A nice thing about having the font at the rear of your church is that you pass it
coming in, reminding you that it is because you are baptized that you have entry to the Lord. You
then pass it going out, reminding you that you carry the name of the Triune God out into the world.
     Q: Why do some churches prefer to call the Altar a "communion table?"
     A: Some have a problem with the real presence of Christ's body and blood in the supper.
Others go so far as to question his atoning sacrifice on the cross. For them, the term "altar" brings to
mind blood, sacrifice, gore, and other "primitive" thoughts. These people would, it seems, prefer to
focus on symbolism and "happy thoughts" rather than the Savior's suffering and death.
     However, even though most Lutherans keep the term "altar," it is not set in stone that this
word must be used. At the time of the Reformation, Martin Luther himself considered abandoning
the traditional term and even its actual design and placement because this gift of God was being
turned into a human action and a spiritual re-sacrifice of Christ.
     Q: Why do churches always have such high ceilings? Are they symbolic? Is it done to
create an atmosphere?
     A: It's mainly symbolic, as a reaching up into the sky to lift our thoughts from earth toward
heaven. However, with the symbolism also come the acoustics of the building, and the ability of our
human voices to combine and be magnified in a way in which electronics cannot duplicate.
     To Ask the Pastor, please write Ask the Pastor, PO Box 12, Emma, MO, 65327 or send
email to askthepastor@aol.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
     Walter Snyder is the pastor of Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Emma, Missouri and coauthor of
the book "What Do Lutherans Believe."