A lectern is a bookstand to support liturgical books.
In some churches, early stone lecterns may still be found protruding from the
North wall of the chancel, as at Crich and Etwall, both in Derbyshire.
Following the Reformation most lecterns were replaced by reading desks, but
from the eighteen forties many congregations followed the example of the
cathedrals and reintroduced separate lecterns, usually on the northern, or
'Gospel' side of the nave in front of the chancel arch.
Most lecterns used today reflect the neo-Gothic style of the Victorian
period and are of nineteenth or twentieth centuary origin.
There are three types of lectern:
1) a revolving two or four sided reading desk supported on a pillar.
2) a similar one sided desk, which is usually of nineteenth or twentieth
origin.
3) an eagle or, rarely a pelican, the mystical emblem of Christ, with
outstretched wings, usually standing on a sphere.
Medieval eagles are comparatively rare, though Victorian and later versions
are legion. The eagle is the symbol of St. John the Evangelist whose words in
the fourth Gospel and The Revelation, 'soared up into the presence of Christ,'
just as the eagle of the medieval bestiaries renewed itself by flying into the
sun.
Written and contributed by Philip Lloyd.
