In 1549, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, produced the first prayer book in English. He also published Reasons Why the Lord's Board Should be Rather after the Form of a Table Than of an Altar. Four centuries later, a book titled The Architectural Setting of Anglican Worship by Addleshaw and Etchells surveyed the many table-altar decisions and the various locations in church buildings where the Lord's board has been and might be located.

Three-quarters of a century after Cranmer, Archbishop Laud preferred the table-altar be located against the "east" wall of the chancel. In 1643, however, when Cromwell was in power, the House of Commons passed an ordinance abolishing all altars at the east end. Laud was imprisoned, and two years later beheaded. Some altars were moved back against the wall after the Restoration in the 1660s.

In many churches in England and in the American Colonies for the next two centuries, the so-called "altar" was in fact a table with legs, and looked like a large table. In time, "altar" generally came to mean a structure with a solid front resembling a large box or a tomb. In America, during the colonial years and until the last part of the 19th century, most parish churches had holy tables, which were located at various places in the buildings.

The Oxford Movement in England also spread to America. It sought to revive some medieval perspectives and Gothic styles, and one of them was to have a solid altar against the east wall of the chancel. For evangelicals in the Episcopal Church, this location and design for the Lord's board epitomized their concern that the Oxford Movement was introducing Roman Catholic doctrine and liturgical practices, both in the Church of England and the Episcopal Church in this country. In 1846, the Bishop of Ohio, Charles McIlvaine, a leading evangelical, refused to consecrate the newly built St. Paul's Church in Columbus because it had a solid-front altar rather than a holy table.

As the 19th century progressed, however, the majority of Episcopal churches adopted the Oxford Movement's perspectives and installed solid-front altars against the east walls. Consequently, by 1946, 100 years after Bishop McIlvaine refused to consecrate a church with an altar, an Episcopal church with a free-standing holy table was quite rare. The celebrants stood with their backs to the congregation at the solid altars. Even so, the rubrics in the 1928 Book of Common Prayer refer to the holy table or communion table, and very rarely and in seldom-noticed rubrics use the word "altar."

In the 1960s and '70s, however, once again the altars, especially in Episcopal and Roman Catholic church buildings, were moved forward away from the wall and made free standing. Often the altars were not changed to tables, but simply moved so the celebrants could stand behind them and face the congregation. The majority of new churches have free-standing holy tables, though some of these have fabric frontals which hang to the floor so the tables look like solid altars.

Another liturgical emphasis in recent decades has been that altars or holy tables should be close to the people. Church buildings with deep chancels such as Washington National Cathedral, All Saints' Chapel in Sewanee, Tenn., and the chapel at the Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina, have left the altar at or near the east wall, but have added another on the floor of the nave just in front of the steps into the chancel. These nave altars or holy tables are used for most of the celebrations of the Eucharist.

The locations of the altars or tables in the 90 parish churches in the Diocese of Alabama are probably representative of the way they are in other dioceses. In 29 churches built in recent years, the holy tables are free standing. In 36 churches where the altars were originally against the east wall, they have been moved forward and are now free standing. In 25 chancels the altars have not been moved and are still against the wall. Three of these churches, however, have free-standing tables in their side chapels.

Some altars are nearly impossible to move. The massive altar in St. Michael and All Angels' Church in Anniston, Ala., is 12 feet in width, made of solid marble, weighs six tons, and is built into the marble reredos. A holy table for the celebrant has been placed in the chancel between the choir pews, but communicants kneel at the altar rail and ablutions are performed at the altar.

In one parish in Alabama, ever since 1935 the altar has been free standing with the celebrant behind it and facing the people. The congregation needs to see, not hear, the celebrant, as the parish is St. John's for the Deaf, and the services are conducted in sign language. o

The Rev. Emmet Gribbin is a retired priest of the Diocese of Alabama who resides in Northport, Ala.