In 2021 worship leaders at Boston University School of Theology asked me to build a table, lectern, and cross for their use in the University’s Marsh Chapel. This double dropleaf round table has a base made of black walnut with holly inlays. The top is made of maple. The curved upsweeping legs remind us of the act of lifting up our hands and hearts in praise and thanks. The top creates a circle that declares the equal participation of all in the act of worship. In the center of the top is a glass tile mosaic created by Sylvia Johnson Everett. The blue swirling spiral reminds us of the waters of creation and baptism that continually regenerate new life. At its heart is a cross, with its blood red drop of sacrificial love, the green of new life, and the gold of resplendent victory.
The worship leaders also requested that I build a table lectern for it. At the time I was re-reading some of the writings of Howard Thurman, who had been Dean at the University in the 1950s. Prof. Luther Smith, my former colleague at Candler School of Theology, a noted scholar of Thurman’s works, suggested that I look at the symbolism of the oak tree as embodying something central to his life. It is to the oak tree near his boyhood home in Daytona Beach, Florida, that the young Howard would retreat in order to claim his fundamental rootedness in the divine creativity and love. It is an image that recurred in his meditations throughout his life. And so, there is an oak tree on the lectern tablet from which future seminarians and religious leaders will preach in Howard Thurman’s school and chapel.The dropleaf design, with the accompanying low lectern, enables someone to preach at the table while seated. This is especially helpful for people in wheelchairs, who received no attention in earlier centuries of worship life. With the addition of the base for the lectern, people can also preach at the table while standing, keeping together the sharing of the word with the sharing of food and drink at the table.
To accompany the table and lectern I created a processional cross and base based on the design for the cross I made earlier for our church in Waynesville, North Carolina.