Altar rail

<p>The altar rail (also known as a communion rail or chancel rail) is a low barrier, sometimes ornate and usually made of stone, wood or metal in some combination, delimiting the <a href="/facts/Chancel/nFQAFrzK">chancel</a> or the <a href="/facts/Sanctuary/ujecJvaP">sanctuary and altar</a> in a church, from the <a href="/facts/Nave/F1U8RApb">nave</a> and other parts that contain the congregation. Often, a central gate or gap divides the line into two parts. Chancel rails are a very common, but not universal, feature of <a href="/facts/Roman_Catholic/rJ4F4gqH">Roman Catholic</a>, <a href="/facts/Lutheran/L4pMlRcS">Lutheran</a>, <a href="/facts/Anglican/CDICRNVn">Anglican</a>, and <a href="/facts/Methodist/XXvj9D0G">Methodist</a> churches. They are usually about 2 feet 6 inches (76 cm) high, with a padded step at the bottom, and designed so that the wider top of the rail can support the forearms or elbows of a kneeling person.
</p><p>The altar rail is a modest substitute for earlier barriers demarcating the <a href="/facts/Chancel/nFQAFrzK">chancel</a>, the area containing the altar, which was reserved, with greatly varying degrees of strictness, for officiating clergy, including boys as choristers and altar servers. Although it only emerged after the <a href="/facts/Protestant_Reformation/9ClEbhnL">Protestant Reformation</a>, it has been found convenient by both Roman Catholic and more traditional Protestant churches, such as the Lutheran, Anglican and Methodist churches. After the <a href="/facts/Second_Vatican_Council/pH00YMc3">Second Vatican Council</a>, a number of Roman Catholic churches removed their chancel rails, which fell into disuse; on the other hand, Lutheran churches continue to retain many features of medieval church architecture and normatively have chancel rails at which communicants receive the <a href="/facts/Eucharist/us3hB9zL">Eucharist</a>.
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Altar rail open-in-new

Altar rail