Sacred Space

I have been thinking about this since the first time I participated in worship with Trinity Church of the Nazarene. I really love the space we have created in which to worship. I hope to draw on some of the implications of our setting as it pertains to our contemporary liturgy in later posts.

Walking through the doors of the sanctuary one might not feel like they are in a setting much different from most mainline Protestant Evangelical worship services. On the furthest wall from the door sits the band and above them on either corner are screens to help us sing. The room itself is not a “sanctuary” per say. However, immediately one is drawn to what is different about this gathering. The congregation sits around the four walls of the room. We found that it was good to give the band a wall so that they could have room to set up and play their instruments with creativity and talent and help us all sing. They sit on the wall farthest from the doors entering the sanctuary. On the two walls to left and right of the entry doors hangs artwork according to the season of the Church calendar to help draw us into God’s presence. On each of these walls sits a candle on a stand symbolizing and reminding us of the Holy Spirit’s presence. On the wall behind the band hangs a large wood design of the Trinity. Out of the Trinity flows a creative movement of hundreds of paper dove’s that go out to the center of the room intertwining with the cross that hangs down 7 inches, parallel with the ceiling. Below the cross sits the pastor’s podium and in the front of the podium, in the center of the room, is the table upon which another candle sits in the middle and the bread and the cup await preparation.