Proper 18a, Palm Harbor, FL
Proper 18a St. Alfred's Church The Rev. Dale C. Hathaway Sept. 9, 2023 Metaphor for Church I remember a snippet from a sermon many years ago. I think it was probably in my teens. The preacher made reference to the way in which looking up at the roof of the church it looked like the ribbing of a ship. He said it's not by accident that that part of the church is called a nave . The nave of a church, from the Latin navis meaning "ship." We get our word navy . Now of course Saint Alfred's doesn't have the appearance of a great sailing vessel of yesteryear, with planks and ribbing. You look up at our ceiling and it looks more like a bobbing teacup or some thing. In fact I guess looking up at the architecture in our church building it looks something like the basket that Moses was floating in down the Nile River. We heard that from the first chapter of Exodus two weeks ago. Still, all in all, there you have it. The church is as if it was sailing on a jou...