Theology of the Altar
A note from Association Pastor Jesse Enniss: New communion table placed into service for Encounter modern worship
Starting on Sunday, February 15, in the Encounter Worship space, you found a new table. We are grateful for the beautiful piece that will serve as a reminder of God's gift of new creation; the New Heaven, New Earth, and the New Creation that God is making us to be.
When we considered having an altar in Encounter Worship, we saw it as an opportunity to add something to the service as a witness to the good news of Jesus Christ. With that in mind, we recognize that altars in United Methodism are purely symbolic. In our tradition we have had "The Lord's Table," or a "Communion Table," which have been referred to as an altar, albeit incorrectly.
Furthermore, the use of an altar is a practice we see in the Old Testament as, under the old covenant, altars were used to make sacrifices to God or to commemorate a divine theophany, in other words, an appearance or manifestation of God. Christ is our sacrifice, once for all. Christ is also the manifestation of God to us. Through Christ, there is no need for an altar.
As we seek to be disciples of Jesus in the United Methodist tradition, we seek to live into the new covenant of God which Christ established through his work on the cross and that we participate in by water and the Spirit. This new piece is a symbol of the already-but-not-yet Kingdom of God that Christ invites us to build with Him. It reminds us of the story of the Bible that ends in a new garden, which is also a kind of temple, with the tree of life at its center. When we take Communion from this table, it is a symbol of us eating from the tree of life redeemed through Christ's sacrifice. And when we baptize persons into the faith, we are reminded of the water of life that flows from the throne of the Lamb who died to offer these gifts to us. As it says in Revelation 22:1-2, "Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations."
In the Encounter service, we seek to be intentional about the message all of our artwork represents and we are blessed to have the generous gifts of our congregation presented in worship as it creates an experience that is unique to St. Stephen's Encounter Modern Worship. We want to thank the Nobili Family for their gift of artwork portraying the empty Cross of Christ that hangs over our fireplace and the Withrow Family for their gift of our new "Lord's Table," portraying the tree of life.