Reply #40: Maybe it is the imagery typically depicted in stained glass...

[Deep13]

...what with the saints and Biblical scenes and, in the old country, depictions of the monarchy. Part of the reformation was to do away with all forms of what the reformers regarded as idolatry. That meant no crucifixes, statues, icons or stained glass. The elaborately painted and decorated church interiors were simplified and white-washed. My native state, Massachusetts was founded by Puritans and other Protestant groups in the early 1600s and many churches still observe the colonial forms. Mine was a relatively new one having been established in 1810. Fortunately, it was retrofitted for central heat and electric lights, but not for air conditioning. It still has the box pews, the large, clear windows, central steeple, white clapboards (replaced by aluminum siding), and white interior of the mid-1700's.

Still, we had a priest, not a minister and certainly not a pastor, an elevated host (without the claimed transubstantiation) and the padded kneely-downy things in the pews.