A Look At The Historic Art And Architecture Of Woods Memorial Church

By Dylan Roche

As Woods Memorial Presbyterian Church celebrates its 100th anniversary, the church continues to not only be a spiritual landmark in the Severna Park community, but an artistic one as well. With fine art of all mediums – from sculpture to calligraphy – Woods Church expresses its faith in a distinctive way, using imagery and style to capture and communicate many aspects of religion.

“Throughout history the arts have been one of the significant ways that people express and understand,” summarized Nancy Saarlas, who organizes the art gallery at Woods, in a brochure on the Arts Ministry’s mission.

The most notable artistry at Woods is in the design of the sanctuary, the main worship chamber that serves as the integral part of the church building itself. The architecture of the sanctuary was planned by a committee of members who worked with an architect during a 1991 renovation. Most significant about the design are the visual clues to remind worshippers about aspects of faith. Meanwhile, some parts of the building are tributes to the church’s history – the oak wood for the flooring and fixtures was sourced from two-centuries-old oak trees once growing on Woods’ grounds.

The chancel at the head of the sanctuary is three steps high and adorned with names from the Bible written in calligraphy across the face of the stairs. The first step bears names from the Old Testament, the middle step names for the Gospels and the topmost step names from the Epistles.

Designed by Russian artist Nikolai Pakhomov, a large iron cross hangs at the front of the Sanctuary over the chancel. The cross is formed from crooks, nails and points. Although beautiful, its sharp projections call to mind the nails and thorns of the crucifixion. The center-point of the cross was modeled after a Celtic aureole, the circle of light or radiance surrounding the head of a holy person.

In the middle of the sanctuary stands the baptismal font, centrally placed in the middle aisle as a reminder of baptism’s role in life, as a public declaration of a Christian leading a life of faith. The border of the main aisle is printed with more names in calligraphy. Leading up to the font are names of saints from church history and around the font itself are names associated with water in the Bible: Noah, Jonah, the woman at the well and others.

The foyer and main hall leading into the sanctuary serve as the Woods art gallery, featuring the work of local and national artists. Church member Nancy Saarlas organizes the gallery, expressing the relationship between faith and the arts. “All of the arts – music, drama, visual – give us a different understanding than logic or words can,” explained Saarlas. “The arts communicate in a different way, through a more emotional way. When we can do that, it gets us in touch with the spiritual dimension of our lives. The arts are our way of seeing and understanding the world differently.”

The main foyer of the church displays a work titled “Life Boat,” a wooden boat filled with sculptures of fish and bread loaves, in reference to the miraculous feeding of the multitude recounted in the Gospels. The piece was given to Woods in honor of Reverend Terry Schoener’s birthday.

To visit Woods Church or learn more about its arts ministry and mission, call the church office at 410-647-2550.