Media gallery
Dorf Church in Berlitt, Germany
St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Serbin, Texas
Tolga Church, Tolga, Norway
Pulpit-altar with organ in Bernshausen, Germany
Røros Church, Røros, Norway
Sør-Fron Church in Norway
A pulpit altar or pulpit-altar is an altar in a church that is built together with a pulpit that is designed as an extension above the altar, so the pulpit, altar, and altarpiece form one unit. This type of altar is typical in a Baroque style church whereas earlier medieval churches and many more modern churches tend to have the more common free-standing pulpit that was set apart from the altar. This design became popular after the Protestant Reformation in Lutheran churches. It was first built to emphasize the importance of the sermon and the preaching of the Word of God in the worship service. It also symbolizes that the Word of God stands together with the sacraments (Holy Communion) which takes place on the altar below. The first pulpit altars appeared in the German areas of Europe and in the baroque churches of the 1600s and 1700s. Sometimes the organ was placed above the pulpit as well to symbolize that music was also central to the church. [1] [2] [3]
The oldest surviving pulpit altar (German : kanzelaltar) is in the castle chapel of Wilhelmsburg Castle in Schmalkalden (today Thuringia), which was built under William IV, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel in 1585–1590. Pulpit altars were quite popular in Upper Franconia, southern Lower Saxony, the Bergisches Land, and the Saxon duchies of today's state of Thuringia. The earliest verified example of a pulpit altar in the Thuringian area was built in the castle chapel of Callenberg Castle in Coburg (today Upper Franconia in Bavaria), built under Duke Johann Casimir of Saxe-Coburg and it was inaugurated in 1618. [3] [4] In the 19th century (in particular), a dispute broke out in the Protestant churches about the correct form and position of the altar. The Eisenach regulation of 1861 rejected the pulpit altar and required churches to have a free-standing arrangement of the altar in a sanctuary, bringing the design closer to the medieval Catholic setup of the chancel.
In some Protestant churches of the Indonesia, the preacher pulpit generally located in the center of the altar, which usually occurs in the Batak Christian Protestant Church (Indonesian: Huria Kristen Batak Protestan), one of the largest Lutheran churches in the Southeast Asia. This is due to the influence of the Dutch colonisation and Dutch Calvinist sect, making it a colonial legacy that remains to this day. However, the Batak Christian Protestant Church moved the pulpit to the right side, which functions as the place for the minister to preach. Meanwhile, it's have available room on the left side utilised for another pulpit as of the place to church notices. This setup is more in line with other Lutheran churches. Traditionally, the Batak Christian Protestant Church is a separate church from the Rhenish Missionary Society comes from the Germany, which are characterised of the composite denomination that includes a Lutheran element compared to the original Lutheran churches in the Nordic countries. [5]
Many churches in Norway got pulpit altars (Norwegian : prekestolalter) during the second half of the 18th century and especially in the first three decades of the 19th century, several of these were later rebuilt or got an extra pulpit with a traditional placement. Pulpit altars can be seen in the Nykirken in Bergen (reconstruction 1756), Gamlebyen Church in Oslo (1796), Røros Church (1784), Kongsberg Church (1740–61), and Sør-Fron Church (1792). Pulpit altars were also used in the octagonal churches such as in Hadsel Church, Klæbu Church, and Tynset Church. The pulpit altar went out of fashion after a time, partly because the altar seemed to be subordinate to the pulpit. In Klæbu Church, a pulpit was later set up on the floor because of the priest's fear of heights. According to Hosar, there are at least 58 pulpit altars in Norwegian churches. [6] In 1749, the old Hopen Church on Smøla was probably the first church in Norway to get a pulpit altar. [7]
A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin pulpitum. The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accessed by steps, with sides coming to about waist height. From the late medieval period onwards, pulpits have often had a canopy known as the sounding board, tester or abat-voix above and sometimes also behind the speaker, normally in wood. Though sometimes highly decorated, this is not purely decorative, but can have a useful acoustic effect in projecting the preacher's voice to the congregation below, especially prior to the invention of modern audio equipment. Most pulpits have one or more book-stands for the preacher to rest his bible, notes or texts upon.
The Lutheran World Federation is a global communion of national and regional Lutheran denominations headquartered in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland. The federation was founded in the Swedish city of Lund in the aftermath of the Second World War in 1947 to coordinate the activities of the many differing Lutheran churches. Since 1984, the member churches are in pulpit and altar fellowship, with common doctrine as the basis of membership and mission activity.
Ludwig Ingwer Nommensen was a Danish Lutheran missionary to Batak lands, North Sumatra who also translated the New Testament into the native Batak language and the first Ephorus (bishop) of Batak Christian Protestant Church. Stephen Neill, a historian of missions, considered Nommensen one of the greatest missionaries of all time. He is commemorated as a missionary on 7 November in the Calendar of Saints of the Lutheran Church with John Christian Frederick Heyer and Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg.
Church architecture refers to the architecture of Christian buildings, such as churches, chapels, convents, seminaries, etc. It has evolved over the two thousand years of the Christian religion, partly by innovation and partly by borrowing other architectural styles as well as responding to changing beliefs, practices and local traditions. From the Early Christianity to the present, the most significant objects of transformation for Christian architecture and design were the great churches of Byzantium, the Romanesque abbey churches, Gothic cathedrals and Renaissance basilicas with its emphasis on harmony. These large, often ornate and architecturally prestigious buildings were dominant features of the towns and countryside in which they stood. However, far more numerous were the parish churches in Christendom, the focus of Christian devotion in every town and village. While a few are counted as sublime works of architecture to equal the great cathedrals and churches, the majority developed along simpler lines, showing great regional diversity and often demonstrating local vernacular technology and decoration.
The Huria Kristen Batak Protestan is an Evangelical Lutheran church among the Batak people, generally the Toba Batak in Indonesia. This church uses an Ecumenical worship style influenced by the Dutch Reformed Church due to the influence of Dutch colonialism in Indonesia, as well as the legacy obtained from the Rhenish Missionary Society when the church was founded. With a membership of 4,133,000, it is one of the largest Protestant churches in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. Its present leader is Ephorus (bishop) Robinson Butarbutar.
Lutheranism as a religious movement originated in the early 16th century Holy Roman Empire as an attempt to reform the Catholic Church. The movement originated with the call for a public debate regarding several issues within the Catholic Church by Martin Luther, then a professor of Bible at the young University of Wittenberg. Lutheranism soon became a wider religious and political movement within the Holy Roman Empire owing to support from key electors and the widespread adoption of the printing press. This movement soon spread throughout northern Europe and became the driving force behind the wider Protestant Reformation. Today, Lutheranism has spread from Europe to all six populated continents.
Stavanger Renaissance (Stavangerrenessansen) is the name for the cultural period which peaked in the middle of the 17th century in the vicinity of Stavanger, Norway. It was characterized principally by church art, largely decorated altarpieces, pulpits, baptismal fonts and wall surfaces.
Støren Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Midtre Gauldal municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. It is located in the village of Støren. It is the church for the Støren parish which is part of the Gauldal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Nidaros. The red, wooden church was built in an octagonal design in 1817 using plans drawn up by the architects Svend Aspaas and Lars Forseth. The church seats about 400 people.
The church St. Gumbertus is one of the central city churches of Ansbach, Bavaria, together with the neighboring St. Johannis. Located in the Altstadt of Ansbach, St. Gumbertus, now a Lutheran church, was originally the church of a monastery that was founded by St. Gumbert around 750. Today it serves as a venue for concerts of the music festival Bachwoche Ansbach. The church contains the oldest structures in Ansbach and is considered Ansbach's city symbol.
Divi Blasii is a Gothic church in the Thuringian town of Mühlhausen, central Germany. Besides St Mary's, it is one of Mühlhausen's two principal churches. Divi Blasii is a three-aisle, cruciform hall church, situated on the Untermarkt in the historical centre of the town. The elaborately designed display façade with tracery, pinnacles and a wheel window on the north side is located on an old trade route. Today, Divi Blasii is the central parish church of the Lutheran parish of Mühlhausen within the Protestant Church in Central Germany.
Sara Oust was a Norwegian lay minister and follower of Hans Nielsen Hauge. She has been described as the country's first female Christian minister and was a leader within the Haugean movement.
An octagonal church has an octagonal architectural plan. The exterior and the interior may be shaped as eight-sided polygon with approximately equal sides or only the nave is eight-sided supplemented by choir and porch attached to the octagon. This architectural plan is found in some 70 churches in Norway. Among these Hospitalskirken in Trondheim is the oldest. This type of church plan spread from the Diocese of Nidaros to other parts of Norway. Virtually all octagonal churches in Norway are constructed as log buildings mostly covered by clapboards. Some of the largest churches in Norway are octagonal and the list includes important cultural heritage monuments such as Trinity Church (Oslo), Sør-Fron Church, and Røros Church.
This is the bright and solemn church room of classicism, whether it is such a large building [as Røros Church] or the modest rural log churches, the interior is covered and interconnected by cheerful colors of the Roccoco in marbling and ceiling. This was our last independent contribution to ecclesiastical architecture.
Sør-Fron Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Sør-Fron Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Hundorp. It is the church for the Sør-Fron parish which is part of the Sør-Gudbrandsdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The white, stone church was built in an octagonal design in 1792 using plans drawn up by the architect Svend Aspaas. The church seats about 750 people.
Church building in Norway began when Christianity was established there around the year 1000. The first buildings may have been post churches erected in the 10th or 11th century, but the evidence is inconclusive. For instance under Urnes Stave Church and Lom Stave Church there are traces of older post churches. Post churches were later replaced by the more durable stave churches. About 1,300 churches were built during the 12th and 13th centuries in what was Norway's first building boom. A total of about 3,000 churches have been built in Norway, although nearly half of them have perished. From 1620 systematic records and accounts were kept although sources prior to 1620 are fragmented. Evidence about early and medieval churches is partly archaeological. The "long church" is the most common type of church in Norway. There are about 1620 buildings recognized as churches affiliated with the Church of Norway. In addition, there are a number of gospel halls belonging to the lay movement affiliated with the Church of Norway as well as churches belonging to other Christian bodies. Until the 20th century, most churches were built from wood. 220 buildings are protected by law, and an additional 765 are listed as valuable cultural heritage.
Franconia is a region that is not precisely defined, but which lies in the north of the Free State of Bavaria, parts of Baden-Württemberg and South Thuringia and Hesse in Germany. It is characterised by its own cultural and linguistic heritage. Its history began with the first recorded human settlement about 600,000 years ago. Thuringii, Alemanni and Franks, who gave the region its name, settled the area in the Early Middle Ages. From the mid-9th century, the Stem Duchy of Franconia emerged as one of the five stem duchies of the Empire of East Francia. On 2 July 1500, during the reign of Emperor Maximilian I, as part of the Imperial Reform, the empire was divided into Imperial Circles. The Franconian Circle, which was formed as a result of this restructuring, became decisive in the creation of a Franconian national identity. A feature of Franconia in the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period was its Kleinstaaterei, an extreme fragmentation into little states and territories. In the 19th century under Napoleon, large parts of Franconia were incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Bavaria.
Werner Olsen was a Norwegian church builder and a tower builder with a legendary reputation. He is also known as Werner Olsen Skurdal in reference to the last residence he lived at.
Altar and pulpit fellowship describes an ecumenical collaboration between two Christian organizations, and is a Lutheran term for full communion, or communio in sacris.Altar refers to the altar in Christian churches, which holds the sacrament of Holy Communion. Pulpit refers to the pulpit, from which a pastor preaches. Altar and pulpit fellowship is therefore a specific understanding of "doctrinal agreement and confessional unity" that "allows the pastors of one church to preach and celebrate Holy Communion in the church of another".
Tolga Church is a parish church of the Church of Norway in Tolga Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the village of Tolga. It is the church for the Tolga parish which is part of the Nord-Østerdal prosti (deanery) in the Diocese of Hamar. The white, wooden church was built in an octagonal design in 1840 using plans drawn up by the architect Rasmus Svendsen Aspaas. The church seats about 300 people.
Svend Halvorsen Aspaas was a Norwegian architect and builder who is known for several of the churches he built. He was also a master builder for the Røros copperworks. He is credited as having invented and built a type of pumping station for mines. He was also known for building many bridges and dams.