do you prefer a pastor who speaks behind a pulpit or carries a microphone? or sits on a stool? why?

and why is the pulpit the standard?

I like having a pulpit, because it gives me somewhere to set my Bible and my notes (it's nice to have an outline so I don't forget where I'm going). I don't like staying behind it though, and I hate carying a microphone. I like to have my hands free. I don't really like that wire on the wireless mike either though, it makes me afraid to turn my head. I can't imagine sitting on a stool - what would I do with all my nervous energy? Incedentally have you ever considered the theological significance of the arragement of furniture in the church?

In the Catholic Church, the pulpit is off to the side. At the center of the worship service is the altar - and the eucharist. They locate the presence of Christ in the sacrament.

Luther, who rejected the doctrine of the "real presence" in the sacrament moved the pulpit to the center of the worship service. He located Christ in the preaching of the Word.

The Quakers eliminated the altar and the pulpit and turned all the pews toward one another. They believed that Christ was not present in the outward forms and symbols of the faith, but in the body of believers itself.

There are insights and drawbacks to all positions here. The Catholic Church's de-emphasis on the significance on the written word as the source of revelation prevents many Catholics from becoming avid students of the Word.

The centrality of preaching in protestant churches has emphasised the role of the preacher's skills, gifts and talents so that some people are more loyal to their pastor than to the Word.

The Quakers, though well meaning, by eliminating the pulpit and seeking Christ in the body, have neglected the Word and lost touch with Christ.

So the arangement of furniture reveals alot about the way we approach God as a community. But it does not ensure a living faith or faithful living.

thats some interesting stuff to chew on. I think i've heard some of it before, but a lot of it certainly seems new to me...

i simply like being able to stand behind something when someone in the back holds up the big sign that says "your fly is open"
but then there are the pulpits that are just on top of a single pole or something that dont offer much by the way of protection...

i dont know what i think of them, but i do like to set a bible on it.. to set my notes on it, and to feel safe behind something ... instead of exposed... weird i think tho

I confess I always suspected pulpits were for pounding.

But I sleep soundly and I can shake my head at a pastor all day long through any amount of racket.