Do Baptist churches have an altar?

[ben_dy]

A couple of times in the past few months, I’ve returned home from Mass on Sunday morning and flipped on the TV to watch local Baptist church services which are broadcast on local network and cable channels.

One thing that I’ve noticed that seems to be standard for all Baptist sanctuaries is that they are devoid of any furnishings save for a chair or two and a medium to large lectern situated squarely in the middle where, in a Catholic church, you would find an altar.

There seems to be nothing in the sanctuary area EXCEPT the chairs and lectern - no credence table, etc. Maybe a some flowers scattered about on ‘butler’ tables. And it seems that the ‘preacher’ doesn’t really use the lectern as such - he seems to roam around with either a microphone in hand or, (what I’ve seen most, lately) a sort of clear Plantronics headset with microphone (what the heck is he listening to, anyway?).

I was under the impression that even Baptists had some sort of Lord’s Supper celebration from time to time - so where’s the altar? Do they celebrate the Eucharist so infrequently that they just haul a folding table up the steps to prepare and ‘bless’ the gifts?

These are normal churches - buildings I’ve driven by and seen and certainly look like churches from the exterior. So what’s the deal?

Where is the altar?

 

[jesusluv]

Pretty much no alter like you are used to. The best I’ve seen and I was Baptist for close to 20 years, is a table down in front of some of the podium/lecturns that says Do This in Rememberance of Me, but that is it. Baptists take communion generally once a quarter and they pass around a plate full of little crackers and little shot glasses with grape juice. It is just a symbol and in no way is it to be seen as a sacrifice like in the mass.

hope this helped some.

 

[Shlemele]

I have been in a Baptist church and know the table you are describing. I always heard it called the communion table and it does hold some significance. In my church we do treat it with respect. One thing that I have always liked is that around thanksgiving (when a lot of the farmers have started their winter crops) there is always a display of these fruits to remind us of the gifts that God has given to us.

We Mennonites have the same saying on the table and drink the same shot glasses, we use regular bread though . I think we usually have communion about once a month or so.

this does remind me of a story on the subject. I had a friend who was in a Christian band with me. We were setting up in the sanctuary for a Wednesday night performance and my friend was doing the usual running cords. In the process he stood on what he thought was a wood platform until he turned around and saw about 5 pairs of eyes staring at him. Once we explained to him that he was on the communion table he sheepishly got down and apologized. The kicker is that we were all about 16 or so, so I guess you could say that even though we do view it as only a spiritual communion with Christ we still honor the gift and the place reserved for it.

 

[LittleDeb]

Shlemele:

this does remind me of a story on the subject. I had a friend who was in a Christian band with me. We were setting up in the sanctuary for a Wednesday night performance and my friend was doing the usual running cords. In the process he stood on what he thought was a wood platform until he turned around and saw about 5 pairs of eyes staring at him. Once we explained to him that he was on the communion table he sheepishly got down and apologized. The kicker is that we were all about 16 or so, so I guess you could say that even though we do view it as only a spiritual communion with Christ we still honor the gift and the place reserved for it.

Doesn’t it bother you that even as a symbol the communion table appeared so insignificant? I guess that part is so hard for me, as a Catholic, to comprehend. I cannot imagine such a powerful symbol of Christ being so, I don’t know, out of the way? I can’t put this into the right words because, as you know, for us it is a real altar with a real sacrifice. I guess it just really struck me because I cannot fathom someone missing the prominence of our altars.

 

[LittleDeb]

ben_dy:

I was under the impression that even Baptists had some sort of Lord’s Supper celebration from time to time - so where’s the altar? Do they celebrate the Eucharist so infrequently that they just haul a folding table up the steps to prepare and ‘bless’ the gifts?

These are normal churches - buildings I’ve driven by and seen and certainly look like churches from the exterior. So what’s the deal?

Where is the altar?

I think it was a Baptist who asked me, “Why is that pulpit in the middle so wide?” Can’t remember for sure if he was Baptist or not.

Remember many churches refer to their raised dias, or stage, as an “altar.”

 

[ekim61]

ben_dy:

I was under the impression that even Baptists had some sort of Lord’s Supper celebration from time to time - so where’s the altar? Do they celebrate the Eucharist so infrequently that they just haul a folding table up the steps to prepare and ‘bless’ the gifts?

These are normal churches - buildings I’ve driven by and seen and certainly look like churches from the exterior. So what’s the deal?

**Where is the altar?/**QUOTE]

1. They don’t bless the “gifts” they don’t even call them gifts. They pass around little crackers and thimbles of wine, read the account of the last supper from the bible and eat it together.
2. They don’t have an altar.

 

[ben_dy]

LittleDeb:

Doesn’t it bother you that even as a symbol the communion table appeared so insignificant? I guess that part is so hard for me, as a Catholic, to comprehend. I cannot imagine such a powerful symbol of Christ being so, I don’t know, out of the way? I can’t put this into the right words because, as you know, for us it is a real altar with a real sacrifice. I guess it just really struck me because I cannot fathom someone missing the prominence of our altars.

I now think that many of the televangelist “sets” that I’ve seen on television might, in fact, be churches. Of the four Baptist services that I’ve seen on TV (and one ‘Assembly of God’ denomination) I knew that they were actually churches but was just puzzled by the lack of an altar - when planning the construction of a new Catholic church you start with the placement of the altar: there is no more sacred spot than the altar - tabernacles should be suitably placed, of course but even where it is placed is in consideration of the placement of the altar.

I’ve been in Anglican churches in the UK and even a Methodist church in the UK and the altars were (quite correctly) the ‘cornerstones’ of the churches. Even though Baptists may not believe in the Real Presence it seems like they would not be so base as to exalt the man (not even a priest!) who would stand at a lectern above the altar of Christ.

And, as I think I said, the ministers (preachers, whatever they call their clergy) didn’t even stand at the lectern - walked about the carpeted sanctuary speaking, most of them carrying their Bibles around as if it were some sort of vestment that could not be released.

I keep thinking that one day I’ll actually get up the nerve and go to one of these churches to see what the service is like 'in person - but I have to admit that some of what I’ve seen on TV actually sort of frightens me,

 

[ben_dy]

jesusluv:

Pretty much no alter like you are used to. The best I’ve seen and I was Baptist for close to 20 years, is a table down in front of some of the podium/lecturns that says Do This in Rememberance of Me, but that is it. Baptists take communion generally once a quarter and they pass around a plate full of little crackers and little shot glasses with grape juice. It is just a symbol and in no way is it to be seen as a sacrifice like in the mass.

hope this helped some.

Do you mean once a quarter as in every three months? Wow - I could not imagine… even when I used to travel quite a bit I could always find time for Mass at least twice a week. Maybe I am weak - maybe that’s why I yearn for the Body of Christ so often; because I NEED it.

A friend of mine who is Methodist (and my age) told me that they, too, use a sort of oyster cracker and grape juice in small shot glasses (he said that they were once glass and were washed after use but that now they use plastic) but I’m pretty sure that they have an altar and an altar rail and I THINK that they kneel as they receive the sacrament (is it a sacrament if there is no institution? I suppose not).

I think someone here told me, though, that Methodists believe in some sort of Real Presence but Baptists, apparently do not.

Yes, that was so good info and helped a great deal - helped me, too, to remember to thank God that I was BORN Catholic and had parents wise enough to make certain that I was knowledgeable of my faith even before I was able to fully embrace it!

 

[ben_dy]

LittleDeb:

I think it was a Baptist who asked me, “Why is that pulpit in the middle so wide?” Can’t remember for sure if he was Baptist or not.

Remember many churches refer to their raised dias, or stage, as an “altar.”

Yes - what we would call the sanctuary. I have an old friend who is a convert of about 20 years now, I suppose, and one day he was telling me a story about some escapade in his old protestant church in which “kids were running all around the whole sanctuary.” When I was puzzled about why children would be running around the sanctuary he had to stop and explain to me that they referred to the entire area - nave and all - as ‘the sanctuary’.

Give me a good, old-fashioned ‘cathedral style’ church any time… I can’t recall where it was (somewhere in New England? Arizona? Can’t remember!) but I was on a business trip over a weekend some time back in the late 1970’s and I went to the church closest to my hotel and it was in a sort of ‘theatre in the round’ architecture - the ‘nave’ was actually a 360º seating area around a centrally placed altar so the priest felt that he had to do a lot of moving around the altar so that he could, at different times but always at SOME time, be ‘facing the people’. I suppose that the regular parishioners became accustomed to it but it would have driven me batty, and, had I been a priest in that church, I think I would either have gone crazy or just accepted the situation and thanked God that I was able to get so much exercise during Mass!

 

[ben_dy]

ekim61:

1. They don’t bless the “gifts” they don’t even call them gifts. They pass around little crackers and thimbles of wine, read the account of the last supper from the bible and eat it together.
2. They don’t have an altar.

That is so very sad. What joy and peace they are missing! Missing Christ altogether… very, very sad.

 

[Shlemele]

LittleDeb:

Doesn’t it bother you that even as a symbol the communion table appeared so insignificant? I guess that part is so hard for me, as a Catholic, to comprehend. I cannot imagine such a powerful symbol of Christ being so, I don’t know, out of the way? I can’t put this into the right words because, as you know, for us it is a real altar with a real sacrifice. I guess it just really struck me because I cannot fathom someone missing the prominence of our altars.

You miss the point, he didn’t know it was the the communion table. it was in the space in front of the stage, he entered from the backstage enterance so he didn’t see it.

This is where we must step out of our own shoes though. When I go to a Catholic church I do see the alter. The difference is to me the building takes away from the experiance. Again I’m only speaking from my experiance so take that into conciteration. When I saw the line of people going up to take the Eucharist it felt very strange because we all take the communion together at the same time. To me it seemed such an individual thing to do for a church that prides itself on unity.

Both of us are used to a certan way of doing things, that much is certan. Is one right and another wrong, maybe. The thing is though that neither carries less significance to us. I believe that we are spiritualy grawn to Christ through the taking of communion, you believe it is literal and spiritual. Is one of us right, maybe. The thing is that neither are salvation issues and we’ll have eternaty to worry about other stuff!

Big idea, just because we do things different doesn’t mean that those things arn’t significant to us.

 

[Shlemele]

ben_dy:

That is so very sad. What joy and peace they are missing! Missing Christ altogether… very, very sad.

We have pleanty of peace and joy. Heck, we Mennos’ got peace comin’ out our ears, and joy to boot!

Seriously though pleanty of Catholics miss it too. Comunion (or the Eucharist, whatever your flavor is) is as spiritual as you make it. If you ignore christ (spiritually) in the bread and cup you can take it untill you overflow and all you are doing is drinking wine (or grape juce) and eating wafers (or bread).

 

[bengal_fan]

think about what communion means to most protestants… it is a symbol. it is a remembrance. now think about what catholics think of the eucharist… it is a sacrifice. it is the actualy flesh and blood of our Lord. now think about what an altar is… it is a place where a sacrifice is performed. that is why catholic’s have an altar and protestants do not. catholic’s are participating in a sacrifice (of course that sacrifice originally took place 2000 years ago so it is not a new sacrifice but a re-presentation of the once for all sacrifice) and protestants are participating in a remembrance… no sacrifice… no altar.

 

[santaro75]

ekim61:

1. They don’t bless the “gifts” they don’t even call them gifts. They pass around little crackers and thimbles of wine, read the account of the last supper from the bible and eat it together.
2. They don’t have an altar.

I have been to these communion services. honestly the seem really insignificant. Kind of like a “supposed to” and not a “want to”

Many protestants have told me that they know they are supposed to get something out of it, but they don’t.

 

[mellysue]

As the resident Baptist:

We do have what we call an altar. We have what we call an “altar call”, can’t have an altar call without an altar, eh?
Our alter just doesn’t look like yours. Some churches have a real wooden alter-looking area. Other churches just have a raised platform. We consider the steps to the platform our altar. Many times I’ve been to services where the pastor has a prayer and people will come to the front and kneel and pray on the steps (altar).

Most baptist churches have communion once a month. Some more, some less. We do treat it with respect and we do show reverence to it. It is not just crackers and jiuce passed out willy nilly and taken. No, at most churches I’ve been to the deacons of the church come forward and the pastor blesses the communion. He asks that each member of the congregation join him in prayer and search their hearts for any unconfessed sin in their life. He stresses that only christians should partake of the sacrament and only those christians who have righted themselves with the Lord. If you have not he warns of how this should not be taken lightly and how the bible warns of not taking this lightly. Then the deacons pass out the bread and juice. Then the pastor serves the deacons himself before being served by them. Then he blesses the bread, everyone prays and he extols everyone to remember the body of christ. Then we all take together. Then he blesses the drink. He extols everyone to remember the blood of christ in prayer. Then we all take together. Then he says a prayer again.

That’s the typical baptist way of doing communion.

As far as people not getting anything out of it. You get out of it what you want. If you are not doing it in reverence or to remember and reflect on christ’s sacrifice then you will get nothing out of it regardless of what church you are in. That’s a heart problem, not a church problem.

 

[deb1]

bengal_fan:

think about what communion means to most protestants… it is a symbol. it is a remembrance. now think about what catholics think of the eucharist… it is a sacrifice. it is the actualy flesh and blood of our Lord. now think about what an altar is… it is a place where a sacrifice is performed. that is why catholic’s have an altar and protestants do not. catholic’s are participating in a sacrifice (of course that sacrifice originally took place 2000 years ago so it is not a new sacrifice but a re-presentation of the once for all sacrifice) and protestants are participating in a remembrance… no sacrifice… no altar.

If you compare the best of Protestants-very devout, eager to please Jesus- experince with the worst of Catholic-say a lukewarm, couple times a year person- then yes, the Protestant will have a deeper appreciation for communion.

A Protestants communion, though, is sort of like a picture of your loved one. If that is all you have, you might be happy but it isn’t the real person. Catholics get to actually have Jesus in their communion, so there is a different much deeper feeling. As an exBaptists I find transubtation a very difficult concept to wrap my meager mind around. It is also very difficult to explain the difference in belief to my very devout Baptist friends.

 

[Libero]

As a young child I used to go to a baptist church occasionally, all I remember them having was a stage at the front, they had like a fold out table at the side of the stage.

 

[Elzee]

My friend is Baptist and in the back of each pew are little wooden holes cut into a piece of wood. One night we had to stop at her church to pick up a few things and I asked to borrow a pencil. I figured she got it from the ‘pencil holder holes’ and placed it back there for her. She said ‘Oh - those are the communion cup holders’! They don’t have an altar so I guess they place the plastic cups in there when they are done drinking…oops!

 

[ben_dy]

Elzee:

My friend is Baptist and in the back of each pew are little wooden holes cut into a piece of wood. One night we had to stop at her church to pick up a few things and I asked to borrow a pencil. I figured she got it from the ‘pencil holder holes’ and placed it back there for her. She said ‘Oh - those are the communion cup holders’! They don’t have an altar so I guess they place the plastic cups in there when they are done drinking…oops!

Hmm - maybe I’ll start a campaign so that before the seating is installed in our new parish church we can get ‘fold down tables’ such as they have on commercial airplanes, so that we can bring breakfast and mimosas for an ‘after communion’ snack. Could even be used for bored kids so that they could draw and paint on a suitable surface.

I suppose someone has to come by and collect all those (hopefully empty - but it’s not actually consecrated wine, is it?) little cups? Wonder if you’ve worked up a thirst it’s considered OK to take a couple of shots?

One day - one day - I will make my way into a number of protestant churches and make notations about the many differences between the protestant church and even the most ‘modern’ of Catholic Church architecture (some of which is hideous, but I wouldn’t expect to find cup holders even in those!).

 

[Elzee]

ben_dy:

I suppose someone has to come by and collect all those (hopefully empty - but it’s not actually consecrated wine, is it?) little cups?
.

I think the door greeters for that particular week collect the cups. This particular Baptist church allows drinking, but I’m guessing it’s grape juice since I think the kids can particpate in communion. I don’t know of any church other than the Catholic Church that uses wine??