The Pulpit Bible

The Pulpit Bible is mostly something which belongs to the past.  It is that huge oversize Bible which was often given as a memorial gift to the church.  Its place was on the pulpit where it collected dust on the two pages to which it was opened when it was first put in its place.  No one ever turned a page, no one ever read from it, no one paid it any attention.  Of course, if any preacher came along and dared to move it and get it out of the way, it was risky business for the memorial committee would surely quickly pounce.    

All my years of preaching, there was one sitting there on the pulpit.  And while I never picked it up to read it, I was glad to have it as a reminder each Sunday that what was preached needed to have as its basis the written Word of God.  It was such an important symbol that I made room for it.  I carried a much smaller Bible to the pulpit from which to read and often some notes on one thing or another, but nothing that ever displaced the Holy Book from its important place.    

As the years turned into decades I placed I did move it to place it in the acolytes hands so that it could be carried into worship at the very front of the procession.  Including it in the procession was a reminder to the preacher and the congregation that the Word of God should go before us and that we were gathering to hear not just any word, but the Holy Word.  Maybe the Pulpit Bible was never read, but it was and continues to be where it is allowed to be used, a visible symbol which points to the authority for preaching as well as a source of guidance for the spiritual life of the church.