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Commissioning a church altar: what the Church actually requires

For a Catholic parish the short answer is that a fixed altar does not have to be stone. Built of Living Stones, the US bishops' document on art, architecture, and worship, states that materials other than natural stone are permitted for a fixed altar provided they are worthy, solid, properly constructed, and subject to the further judgment of the local ordinary. Wood and metal altars are possible, and your diocesan bishop decides. Get that judgment before you commission, not after.

Reviewed

Everything else follows from one sentence in the same document: because the Church teaches that the altar is Christ, its composition should reflect nobility, beauty, strength, and simplicity. That is your design brief. Hand it to the maker verbatim.

The altar is one of three

Built of Living Stones identifies the principal ritual furnishings of the sanctuary as the altar on which the Eucharistic sacrifice is offered, the ambo from which God's word is proclaimed, and the chair of the priest celebrant.

The practical consequence: these three belong together. Commissioning an altar in isolation, from a maker who is not thinking about the ambo and the chair, produces a sanctuary that looks assembled rather than designed. If the budget only allows the altar now, at least have all three drawn together and have the maker hold the drawings.

The document also frames the whole undertaking: a church building should be worthy of prayer and sacred celebration, built in conformity with the laws of the Church, and dignified with noble beauty and intrinsically excellent art.

Start with the approval path

This is the step committees skip, and it is the one that sets the schedule.

  1. Ask the diocese who reviews this. Most route sanctuary furnishings through a liturgical commission or an art and architecture commission.
  2. Ask what they want to see. Drawings at what scale, material samples, elevations of the whole sanctuary, or all three.
  3. Ask how long it takes. This is the least predictable stage in the project.
  4. Confirm who gives the final judgment. Built of Living Stones places the judgment on materials with the local ordinary.

Only then commission design work.

Fixed and movable altars

The Code of Canon Law and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) both draw this distinction.

A fixed altar is built so that it is attached to the floor and cannot be moved (canon 1235 §1; GIRM 298). It must be dedicated (canon 1237 §1), and the Church considers it desirable for every church to have one (canon 1235 §2; GIRM 298). By tradition the top of a fixed altar, the mensa, is natural stone, but in the dioceses of the United States dignified, solid, well-crafted wood may be used, provided the altar is structurally immobile. The base may be of any worthy, solid material (canon 1236 §1; GIRM 301).

A movable altar can be relocated. It may be dedicated or simply blessed (canon 1237 §1; GIRM 300), and it may be made of any noble, solid material suited to liturgical use (canon 1236 §2; GIRM 301). Outside a church, in a chapel or another space set aside for worship, either kind is permitted (canon 1235 §2). A movable altar is usually the practical choice for a temporary or multi-use space, or for a parish worshiping in a building it does not own.

Which one you are commissioning changes the construction, the weight, the material options, and the rite that follows. Settle it before drawings.

Related questions for the diocese rather than the maker:

  • Whether relics of a saint will be placed beneath the altar. The bishop decides, with those preparing the rite, and the relics must be authentic. The reliquary goes beneath the altar table, never on it or set into it, and never in the base of a movable altar (canon 1237 §2; GIRM 302; Order of the Dedication of a Church and an Altar, chapter 4, nos. 11 and 25, and chapter 6, no. 3). If relics are planned, tell the maker early, because the design needs a sealable place for them beneath the table
  • The rite of dedication or blessing, and its date, which fixes your deadline. Mass should not be celebrated on a new altar before it is dedicated, so the dedication is normally its first Mass (Order of the Dedication, chapter 4, no. 13)
  • What happens to the altar being replaced. An altar that has been dedicated or blessed is reserved for worship alone and may never be put to ordinary use (canon 1239 §1)

What to specify

Dimensions and placement

  • Height, and the celebrant's height. This is a working surface used by a person
  • Length and depth, sized to the sanctuary and to what is set on it
  • Clearance to move around it
  • Sightlines from the back of the nave and from any transept or gallery
  • Accessibility of the sanctuary platform

Material and construction

  • Stone, wood, or metal, and the specific species or type
  • The mensa, the top surface, and how it is finished and maintained
  • Weight, and whether the floor structure takes it. For stone this is a structural question, not a furniture question
  • How candles, cloths, and books actually sit on it in use

Ornament and meaning

  • Carving, inlay, or applied metalwork, and what it depicts
  • Any inscription, in what language, approved in writing before it is cut
  • Whether the design draws on the existing architecture, and which elements
  • Whether material from a previous altar or building is incorporated

Coordination

  • The ambo and celebrant's chair, at minimum drawn at the same time
  • Existing woodwork or stone to be matched, with daylight photographs
  • The tabernacle, font, and sanctuary lamp if in scope
  • Lighting, and whether it changes

What it costs

Maker Marketplace does not hold enough commission history in this category to publish honest ranges, and these are priced per object rather than per category. Rather than guess, here is what drives the number.

  • Material. Wood, stone and metal are very different propositions, and stone carries a structural question about the floor as well
  • Quantity of hand carving, and whether figurative work is involved
  • Whether the piece must match existing historic work in the sanctuary
  • Inscription, and whether it is carved or applied
  • Whether material from a previous altar or building is incorporated
  • Whether the ambo and celebrant's chair are commissioned at the same time, which lowers the per-piece cost and produces a coherent sanctuary

Ask two or three makers to quote against the same written specification. A committee that has settled the spec will get comparable numbers back; one that has not will get a wide spread and learn nothing from it.

How long it takes

Stage Duration
Committee brief and maker selection 4 to 12 weeks
Design, drawings, material samples 4 to 8 weeks
Diocesan review and the ordinary's judgment 2 to 16 weeks
Fabrication 12 to 24 weeks
Installation 1 to 3 weeks
Dedication or blessing Scheduled with the diocese

Seven to twelve months total is normal. If the altar is to be dedicated on a specific date, work backward and add two months of slack against the review stage.

Working with what the parish already has

Parishes merging, renovating, or receiving furnishings from a closed church often hold usable material: an old mensa, carved panels, altar rail sections, stone, beams. Rebuilding around existing elements maintains real continuity and frequently costs less than building new.

It is specialist work. Historic joinery and old stone behave differently from new stock. An altar that has been dedicated (older documents say consecrated) is reserved for worship alone and may never be put to ordinary use, and it keeps its dedication even if the church around it is closed and put to secular use (canons 1238 §2 and 1239 §1). Moving, dismantling, or reusing one is therefore a question for the diocese rather than the maker. Raise it at the brief stage, because it determines which makers are suitable.

Who does this work

Furniture makers and cabinetmakers for wood altars. Stone carvers for stone. Metalsmiths for metal elements, mounts, and applied ornament. Carvers for figurative and ornamental work. Most projects use at least two trades.

On Maker Marketplace, start a commission describing the altar, the sanctuary, your approval path, and your dedication date. Drawings, samples, and approvals stay on the platform, which matters when a parish committee, a pastor, a diocesan commission, and a donor all need to see what was agreed.

Sources

Maker MarketPlace Background

Frequently asked questions

No. Built of Living Stones permits materials other than natural stone for a fixed altar provided they are worthy, solid, properly constructed, and subject to the further judgment of the local ordinary. Wood altars are common. Your diocesan bishop makes the determination.

Material is the largest factor, and wood, stone and metal are very different propositions. Beyond that: the quantity of hand carving, whether any of it is figurative, and whether the piece must match existing historic work in the sanctuary. Stone also raises a structural question about the floor.

Seven to twelve months is typical, with fabrication three to six months of that. Diocesan review is the least predictable stage.

The ambo and the celebrant's chair, which Built of Living Stones names alongside the altar as the principal ritual furnishings of the sanctuary. Even if only the altar is funded now, have all three designed together.

For materials on a fixed altar, Built of Living Stones places the judgment with the local ordinary. Most dioceses route this through a liturgical or art and architecture commission. Ask what the path is before spending anything on design.

Frequently yes, and it is a meaningful choice. Beams, panels, and rail sections are regularly rebuilt into new furnishings. Anything involving a previously dedicated altar should go to the diocese first. Church law reserves a dedicated altar for worship alone, and it stays dedicated even after the church it stood in is closed and put to secular use.

Furniture makers and cabinetmakers, stone carvers, metalsmiths, and ornamental carvers. There is no single "church furniture" trade and most projects combine several.

Use the Church's own words. Built of Living Stones says the altar's composition should reflect the nobility, beauty, strength, and simplicity of the One it represents. That is a better brief than any adjective a committee will write.
    Commissioning a church altar: what the Church requires | Maker Marketplace