Last week we were talking chiefly about the outside of a church.  Today we are going to talk about some of the things we find inside it.

Most churches are divided into three parts: the nave, the chancel and the sanctuary.

The nave

The nave is the body of the church where the people sit.  It comes from the Latin word navis, meaning a ship.  We get ‘navy’ from the same word.  The Early Christians liked to compare the whole Church of God to a great ship sailing over “the waves of this troublesome world” on her way to “the land of everlasting life”; and so their own particular church, in which they used to meet for worship, reminded them also of a ship as it narrowed towards the east like a ship narrows towards its bows.

Font

In the nave near one of the doors you will find the font.  It is placed near the entrance as a sign that through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, which is administered at the font, we enter the Family of God’s Church.  The font is usually the oldest part of a church, sometimes older than the rest of the building.  This is because in olden days, when a church was pulled down and a new and larger one erected in its place, they liked to keep the old font and set it up in the new church.

Arcade of pillars and arches

I said just now that the church usually narrows towards the east end, and the effect of this is to lead one’s eye along its length to the altar, which is the most important part of the church.  The arcade of pillars and arches, which separates the nave itself from the aisles at the side, acts in the same way, just as an avenue of trees leads you to look along it to the other end.

Lectern and pulpit

At the front of the nave there is the lectern from which the Bible is read.  On the other side you will see the pulpit from which the Christian Faith is taught.  It is interesting to note that, although of course sermons are preached at other times, the only service at which a sermon is actually ordered by the Prayer Book is the Eucharist.  This is because the Eucharist is the chief service of the Church at which the greatest number of people are present.  The lectern and the pulpit, placed as they are on either side of the way leading up to the altar, where worship is offered to God,  remind us that we are taught about God so that we may worship him better.  Our first purpose in going to church is not to listen to sermons or readings from the Bible, important though they are, but to honour God by offering him our worship.

The chancel

Beyond the nave is the chancel where the clergy sit, and also the choir unless, as in some churches, they are in a gallery at the west end.  You will often find a screen separating the chancel from the nave, and it is this screen which gives the chancel its name.  The word chancel comes from the Latin cancelli, which means a criss-cross screen like trellis-work.  It is the same word as cancelling in arithmetic, when you cancel out factors with a slanting line.  When there is a large crucifix on top of the screen, it is called a rood screen, the word rood (spelt r-o-o-d) being an old English word for Cross.  You will generally see a figure of Our Lady and St John on either side of the crucifix.  When the crucifix is hung from the roof, it is known as a hanging rood.

The sanctuary

Beyond the chancel, there is the sanctuary in which the altar itself is situated.  We shall be looking at that in more detail in our next session.  But at the moment you can see how important and necessary the altar is when you realise that without it the church would not be a church at all.  For a church is really a building that contains an altar at which the Eucharist can be celebrated.

Aisles and processions

We have already seen how the aisles, by making the church larger, provide room for more people; and how the arcades lead our eyes to the altar at the east end.  Aisles also make it possible for processions to go round the church, and that is why the Stations of the Cross are put up at intervals along their length.  There are 14 of these Stations, and they picture the events of Good Friday from Our Lord’s condemnation by Pilate to his burial.  Sometimes there is a 15th station depicting the Resurrection.

Chapels

Aisles have a further use as well.  The east end of an aisle often forms a very convenient place for another altar.  In many churches this altar is screened off to make a chapel.  That word chapel has a very interesting history.  You’ll remember the story of St Martin of Tours, the young soldier who gave half of his cloak to a beggar and put the other half round his shoulders as a cape.  St Martin became Bishop of Tours in France, and after he died in the year 397 AD, his half of the cloak was kept as a treasured relic.  In fact, the Frankish kings used to have it carried with them when they went into battle.  This cape, or capella as it was called, was kept in a tent and was guarded by priests who were called capellani, that is, chaplains.  The capellani also celebrated the Eucharist in the tent, and in the course of time the word capella – chapel – came to be used, not only for the cape, but also for the tent itself, and later was used for any small church or for an enclosure within a church where the Eucharist could be celebrated.

Usually in one of the side chapels you will find the confessional, where the priest hears Confessions and administers the Sacrament of Reconciliation (Penance).

A chapel where the Eucharist is offered only for the repose of the souls of the Faithful Departed is called a Chapel of the Holy Souls.  A Lady Chapel is a chapel dedicated to Our Lady.

In some churches you will see a statue of Our Lord, and one of Our Lady and perhaps other saints.  In front of these there is often a stand for candles, known as a pricket, on which you can put a lighted candle in honour of Jesus or a saint.

SUMMARY

1. The main divisions of a church are the nave and aisles (for the people), the chancel (for the clergy and often the choir), and the sanctuary (for the clergy and servers).

2. The main objects in a church, besides the seats, are the font (Baptism), the lectern (Bible), the pulpit (sermons), the confessional (Sacrament of Reconciliation), and the altar (the Eucharist).  The altar is the most important of all and makes it a church.  Many churches have, besides the chief or High Altar, other altars which are often enclosed by chapels.  A Lady Chapel is a chapel dedicated to Our Lady.  Statues of Our Lord, Our Lady and other Saints, may also be found in a church.