It is a Lutheran church, if that helps. They have a cross up on the wall in the back of the stage.
Anyway, around the cross are a bunch of tiny crosses. There appear to be 12 of them, so I thought they might indicate the disciples. Most importantly, one of them is different, which you can see in the picture. The symbol right of the base of the cross is like an “untied cross”, just a squiggly line.
I’m sure i’s meant to be Judas. But if you do call the church, be sure and tell them to flip that horseshoe vertically. If they hang it that way all the luck will run out.
Not having been a practicing Lutheran for many many years, I’ve never seen anything like that before. I don’t remember anything like that when I went. When was the photo taken and where? That almost just looks like some sort of decoration and nothing more.
Possibly, but I doubt it. Churches are full of symbolism and while we might be guessing along the correct answer of the 12 disciples and Judas, there’s a chance it’s something else. I was raised Roman Catholic and have been an active Lutheran for 30 years, am moderately informed, and have never seen this anywhere else.
Have you tried googling the church to see if there’s a description somewhere? Possibly there’s a page that says “Decorated by the artist Humpty Dumpty who chooses to symbolise the disciples …”
Does St. John the Baptist hold any special significance in Lutheranism? That wavy sign makes me think it could be a symbol for “water” - and by extension, for St. John the Baptist.
Similarly – any chance the wavy symbol stands for the sacrament of “baptism” itself? It seems to be on the bottom of the wall (looking at pic in the OP), with the crosses ascending diagonally (towards heaven?) from the wavy line.
Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (Hibbing, MN) has this on their website explaining the symbolism of their wall décor. Scroll about halfway down the page.
There is a picture of the baptismal font and the wallspace above it. There are two wavy lines on the wall above the font. Mahaloth, any chance the baptismal font is placed under the wave symbol in your church when baptisms are performed?
In some Christian traditions, 11 of the Apostles (including Matthias, who was elected to replace Judas) were martyred for their faith. Only John died a natural death, although he had been exiled.
But I’ll be damned if I know what the squiggle is supposed to mean, whether it represents John or Judas.
