The chancel, from the latin cancelli meaning "grating" or "lattice", originally referred to the screen that separated the sanctuary from the nave.

However, as further space was required for the clergy and choir, the chancel migrated westward and has come to refer to the area between the sanctuary and the nave and, as with our church, is usually a few steps higher than the nave.

The chancel is still the place where the choir is seated, and where the clergy find themselves, if they are not seated in the sanctuary.

In fact the chancel came to be so firmly entrenched as the place of the clergy that in the Church of England, up until recently, the rector of a parish was responsible for the maintenance and repair of the chancel and parishioners were responsible for the nave.

However, in modern times, regardless of who's sitting where, the parish is now responsible for all repairs and maintenance.

That said, since we must make our way through the chancel in order that we may taste the bread of heaven, it should not be a place where angels, let alone the rest of us, fear to tread.