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One of only two "triple-decker" pulpits surviving from colonial Virginia (the other is at Aquia Church in Stafford County), the pulpit at Christ Church stands at the southwest corner of the crossing. In this position, it attained maximum prominence and visibility, a vital concern in a church where the spoken word was paramount. From every pew in the church, parishioners could see and hear the minister as he preached in the pulpit; the same was not true for the altarpiece and communion rail, which could not be seen from pews along the northeast and southeast walls.
At the bottom of the three levels sat a clerk’s desk, from which the clerk, or “clark” as he was called, read community announcements (e.g., laws from the House of Burgesses, proclamations from the Governor) and led the congregation in responsive readings and psalms. The minister read the liturgy and directed the service from the reading desk, situated in the middle level. From the top level he delivered the sermon. The type, or what is now often referred to as a sounding board, resting above his head symbolized the authority present in the minister’s position. The frieze reveals remnants of a pained decorative band, while the soffit, or underside of the type, has inlaid rays depicting a sunburst image.
The surviving eighteenth-century paneling, mouldings, and seating in the pulpit are first-growth yellow pine. The handrailings, balusters, and newels of the pulpit stair are early twentieth-century replacements made of black walnut. The small desk at the top level is also an early twentieth-century replacement. |
