Investigating three pieces of furniture, discuss their differences

GCSE Religious Studies (Philosophy & Ethics)

“Investigating three pieces of furniture, discuss their differences and why?”

The three pieces of furniture that I am going to investigate and discuss is the Pulpit/Ambo, Communion Table/Altar, Baptistry/Font. There are six pieces of furniture but three are part of the Baptist church and three are part of the Catholic Church.

The first item of furniture is the Pulpit (Baptist)/ Ambo (Catholic). The Pulpit in the Baptist church is definitely the main piece and focus of worship for the Baptist church. It is very big and noticeable when you walk into the church. The pastor walks up onto it and speaks there. He usually preaches on the Pulpit for about 30-40 minutes every Sunday. The Pulpit is made of wood and is very simple with no carvings etc… on it. The Ambo is the name for the pulpit in the Catholic Church. It is on the left side of the Catholic Church. It is made of a very valuable marble and the carvings on it are quite detailed. As well as that the gospel would be read here. There are some differences between these two items of furniture one of which being the Pulpit was very large and the Ambo was very small compared to it. The Ambo was very decorative though and the Pulpit was just a plain wood with no carving etc… on it. Furthermore the Pulpit was central and the Ambo was not it was to the left side of the Catholic Church. There is another difference between these two items of furniture which is that the Pulpit is the Baptist Churches main focus but the Ambo is not the Catholics main focus.

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The second items of furniture are the Communion Table (Baptist) and the Altar (Catholic). The Communion Table in the Baptist Church in Dungannon is quite plain with just a white sheet over the top of a table. To people in the Baptist Church this table is known as “The Lords Table”. It is made of wood. As well as that this is where the bread and wine is eaten and drank every Sunday. The bread is just normal white bread and the wine is none alcoholic wine. Only members of the church could eat and drink at the table. The Altar found in the Catholic Church in Dungannon is in the centre if the church and in big. This is one of the first items of furniture you notice as you walk in through the doors of the church. This is where the Catholic Church focuses in mostly. It is made of one of the most expensive marbles in the world. As well as that the markings on it are very elaborate and were carved by some of the best carvers in the world when they were first made. There is also a big difference in the items of furniture, being that the Altar is the Catholic Churches main focus and the Communion Table is not the Baptists main focus (the Baptist Church’s main focus would be the pulpit, this would be because Baptists and Catholics have different beliefs and focus on different things like furniture for instance).

The third and final pieces of furniture are the Baptistry (Baptist) and the Font (Catholic). The Baptistry is a pool where adults are baptisted in the ground at the front of the church. It is very simple with no designs etc… on it. It is quite deep and as you would walk into it, it says “buried with him in baptism”. Then as you come out it says “risen with Christ” This means that when you walk into the baptistery you go in with all your sins and you get put under water and when you come up out of the water and walk out of the baptistry all of your sins are left behind but not forgotten. The font in the Catholic Church is where infant baptism takes place and is on the right side of the church. It is made of very expensive marble not quite as expensive as the Altar but still expensive and it has a gold lip. It is not very tall but is very wide. These items of furniture have some differences one of which being that the Baptistry is only for adults to be baptisted in and the font is only for babies. One was an act of obedience.

I have tried to summarise the main pieces of furniture and give a fair comparison of the pieces of furniture in the churches so hopefully this tells you a little about both churches and what the Baptist Church and the Catholic Churches furniture is like and what difference there is between both churches.

Mark Finlay