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             St Clares :  How to read the church                                      

                


                    Please Click on any of the following titles 

Churches are alive with images and symbols. Quite often people, including regular   visitors, do not truly understand the wealth of meaning in what they find there. We now attempt to explain the significance of the church layout, the symbolism of key scenes and the importance of details such as the use of colours and letters. 

A church is packed with meaning. Outside, the spire points heavenwards; carvings over the entrance announce the holiness of the space inside; the aisle that draws you to the altar, with its ranks of pews on either side, is the gangway of a ship carrying worshippers to God; the altar, the holy heart of the building, is contained in a separated and sacred space; all around, numbers, colours, the figures depicted in the altarpiece paintings and the scenes in the stained glass, points to aspects of Christian teachings about God.

Please click on any of the titles listed in the table above for descriptions of these subjects.