Why is there a fireplace in a 7th day adventist lectern?

June 17, 2010 9:46 AM

Last night, I attended a dress rehersal of a choir my daughter will be joining. It was at a 7th day adventist church and I noticed that the lectern had a (gas-burning) fireplace set into the front facing the pews. Does this have any religious significance or is it just a quirk of this church? The choir is just renting the space for practice, so they're not a good source for info.
posted by skyscraper to Religion & Philosophy (4 answers total)

Best answer: I've been to a few SDA churches in my childhood. I don't recall seeing this. Whoever did the interior design for this church just has really bad taste.
posted by randomstriker at 9:54 AM on June 17, 2010

Best answer: I was raised SDA and attended through college. There is no significance to this whatsoever, just a quirk of that particular church.
posted by peanut_mcgillicuty at 10:06 AM on June 17, 2010

Best answer: I agree that it doesn't seem to be a particular feature of SDA churches. However, I'd wager it's meant as a reference to Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit comes on the day of Pentecost, appearing as tongues of fire and enabling the Christians' preaching to be understood in any language. The fireplace in the lectern likely represents the same desire for their minister's sermons.
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 10:12 AM on June 17, 2010

Response by poster: Thanks, everybody!
posted by skyscraper at 10:28 AM on June 17, 2010