At their last meeting, the Vestry members of Trinity Church gratefully accepted the gift
of a simple yet elegant crucifix from a parishioner who wishes to remain anonymous.
This central symbol of our faith in Christ Jesus now hangs on the gospel-side front wall
of the church directly behind the pulpit reminding us all that it is from this piece of
church furniture that the Crucified Christ is proclaimed and preached. Many, if not most
Episcopal and Anglican Churches display this same silent yet powerful representation of
Our Crucified Lord behind or beside the pulpit, the place where the Good News of God
in Christ, the Word of God, is shared and embraced anew whenever we gather for
worship and prayer.
Much like the portrayal of the Crucifixion of Christ rendered in the exquisite stained
glass of the Morris window above the altar, the symbol of the Crucifix hung in close
proximity to the pulpit serves as a reminder of the depth of sacrifice our Loving God was
and is willing to endure to enflesh that Holy Love in our own hearts and lives, and that it
is our mission in life to share that joyful news of redemption in Christ with every person
we meet. While at times this image can be a painful reminder of our own brokenness,
our own sinfulness, our own failure to commend the faith that is in us, it is also a
compelling sign that our God provides the path both through and beyond that deadly
state and into a resurrected life of joy, hope, love, and peace.
Rather than remaining a mere replica of the horrific death we humans inflicted on an
innocent man 2000 years ago named Jesus of Nazareth, the powerful image of the
Christ of God offering His life in sacrifice on the Cross presses us to embrace all which
that incredible gift brings into our present experience—to remember and therein
become re-membered, reconnected, restored, renewed by the boundless Grace of our
Triune God working in us and through us to make us one with God, with one another,
and with the entire creation. While the Crucifixion of Christ was undoubtedly an end, a
culmination of Jesus’ earthly ministry among us, His gift of self-sacrifice resounds both
through time and beyond time, through words and beyond words, enfolding us into the
Ultimate Mystery of God.