Why Do Episcopal Churches Have Red Doors

The red doors of churches traditionally signaled a place of sanctuary refuge and safety.

Why do episcopal churches have red doors. Red was painted on the north south and east doors of a church making the sign of the cross marking the church as a safety zone from spiritual dangers. The tradition of red doors originated in england during the middle ages when it was a sign of sanctuary. Why do most episcopal churches have red doors this question often gets asked by folks who have recently joined their local episcopal parish. The door of our church is red why.

Actually many many churches have red doors. I grew up episcopalian and never noticed. Or even the blood of jesus himself red wine red words of christ in the gospels etc. Few churches have been more aggressively inclusive than the episcopal church yet between 2002 and 2012 it lost 18 4 percent of its members and its church attendance declined 24 4 percent.

For many churches the color red symbolizes the blood of christ which is the entry into salvation for those who enter. Still there are simpler explanations for why the episcopal church doors are painted red. John s in hingham massachusetts doesn t have red doors. No matter the meaning many older protestant churches have distinctive red doors and when you re visiting a new city like gatlinburg you can readily identify the episcopal church because it s the one with the red doors.

Red doors on. My current parish st. Some believe that the doors of the wittenberg cathedral where martin luther posted his 95 theses were red. My immediate thought was the sacrificial blood of christ and all who enter may be saved if they choose to do so and i was right but it goes a little deeper than that.

Painting the doors red started in the middle ages and the northern souther. It is customary especially in episcopal churches to paint the doors red. Red typically indicates blood in a religious christian sense. There are several proposed explanations.

Some say it is a sign the mortgage is paid off. After doing a bit of research on this there are actually a cluster of reasons why churches have red doors though no one clear resounding answer can be found. The reason for this is obscure. Still others state the decision was made to make the church easily recognized and visible as an episcopal church.

Cradle episcopalians never ask this question because well the doors have always been red so don t question it. If you google red door church and click images you will see a slew of them. The most mundane is that once upon a time painting the doors of a building red signified that the mortgage had been paid in full. Anything i can offer is only a guess.