The Center for Liturgical Art at Concordia recently created an altar, baptismal font and ambo for The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod's chapel at its headquarters building in St. Louis, Mo. Dedicated at the service marking 25 years in the International Center, the pieces will play a vital role in the worship conducted in the chapel.
"The synod contacted us a few months ago," said William Wolfram, designer of the pieces and professor emeritus of art at Concordia. "We were honored to be asked to design the furnishings."
The altar is constructed of approximately 1300 lbs. of granite from Ambur, India, a site of historical significance for the LCMS. In 1895 two Lutheran missionaries were dispatched to the town in the first international mission effort of the LCMS. The missionary efforts that began at Ambur grew to become the India Evangelical Lutheran Church, now numbering 50,000 members. The president of a large IELC congregation, Perumal Selvaraj, donated the granite. Selvaraj, also the owner of Regal Granite and Stone Works, visited the LCMS headquarters building in late 2007. During the visit he expressed his desire to donate materials for the chapel.
For the CLA, the gift of black granite meant they had a medium to work with that was elegantly matched for the worship space. "We knew the altar would need to be simple, and we knew we had the beautiful granite to work with," said Wolfram. The location of the chapel in the southeast corner of the building means that the view outside the front glass walls is of a complex highway interchange. "In contrast with the constant motion outside the window, we wanted the altar to be unembellished but still striking."
Within the design, crosses are placed on each side and one on the top. "This reinforces the cross of Christ reaching out in all directions for all people," said Wolfram. He also designed the front cross to be interchangeable, allowing for variations based on the church year seasons or special worship services.
The baptismal font consists of a large bronze bowl, 31 inches in diameter, placed on a simple wooden stand. The ambo is also made of bronze and wood.
Once designed, the center worked with others to construct the furnishings. John Conklin of Shorey Metal Works in Topeka, Kan., created the steel framework for the granite and oversaw the assembly of the altar. He also fabricated the bronze from Wolfram's specifications. Rick Golec of the International Center Building Operations team did the carpentry work.
