Ambo or Pulpit?
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while now, you’ll know that a good portion of my posts either come from questions people have asked me or from my own wondering about a particular subject. Today’s post falls into the latter category…
When Jesus preached to the crowds, Scripture records that one time He ascended a mountain to teach them (Matthew 5:1) and on another occasion He got into a boat and moved a little way from the shore (Luke 5:3). There is theological significance to both of these actions, but there’s also a very practical reason that the Lord did this – He wanted His preaching to be heard clearly by as many people as possible.
The necessity to clearly hear the words of preaching continues today and we see it reflected in the architecture of our church buildings in the presence of a pulpit/ambo/lecturn.
For quite a while, I’ve noticed that Catholic liturgists typically use the word “ambo” to describe the preacher’s platform, rather than “pulpit”, which you hear more often both in the Protestant world and in popular culture. However, is there really a difference between “ambo” and “pulpit”, or is this just a case of Catholic/Protestant “potato/potahto”?