April 1, 2023

My Dear Friends in Christ,

You will notice something new in the church this week. I want to take a few moments to explain it to you so that we can be ready for it and focus on worship. We have added a tabernacle to our sanctuary. What is a tabernacle? It is a place to store the consecrated bread and wine from communion so that they can be used at a later time, particularly for serving communion to those who cannot join us in person.

How to reserve the sacrament became a question for us as soon as we began our eucharistic ministry team. Our lay members who bring communion to others needed consecrated elements. For the time being, we have left them covered on a table. This has been less than ideal, both practically and theologically. The tabernacle will help us to show greater reverence for the presence of Christ in the elements and to keep the elements available for those hungering for it.

Tabernacles have a long history in the Christian church. They are mainly found in liturgical traditions like Lutheran, Anglican, Episcopal, Roman Catholic, and Orthodox. There is at least one practice that we at St. Mark’s do that has its root in this history. Consider this. The candle above the altar is called a sanctuary lamp or an eternal candle, it is always lit. This candle represents Christ’s continual presence in the sanctuary. Where was this presence originally understood to be? In the tabernacle.

Palm Sunday weekend is a natural time to set and consecrate our tabernacle. It has been the tradition of the church each Holy Thursday to strip the altar. Historically, part of stripping the altar is consuming any remaining consecrated elements. The first communion of the new year is celebrated at Easter, either on Easter morning or at the Easter Vigil where one is celebrated.* Our new tabernacle will, therefore, be ready for us after the Easter services.

God loves you and so do I,

Pastor Albert

* Fun fact: Our Holy Saturday service is only half of the Easter Vigil. We do not celebrate the resurrection because I cannot do that while it is still daylight on Saturday. If we started at 11:00 PM, then we would celebrate the resurrection and have communion.)