Not a "fabric of faith" or "cloth of credibility" as the name would seem to imply, the credence cloth is the linen fabric that covers the credence, the small shelf or table that occupies the epistle side (right, when viewed from the pew) of the sanctuary.

Those of you who have credenzas at home will identify with the origins of this ancient liturgical furnishing; for the credence, like its secular counterparts, functions essentially as a sideboard; the Holy Hardware - such as the cruets, chalice and missal stand - which eventually finds it way to the altar at the beginning of the Eucharist, awaits its final destination on the credence.

In the medieval church, rubrics relating to the credence and its cloth were stiff and unyielding.   For example, when a bishop celebrated, the credence cloth was to be of larger dimensions than usual - the ordinary size being about forty inches long, twenty broad, and thirty-six high.

Whereas, on solemn festivals - such as Christmas and Easter - it was expected that the cloth would extend to the sanctuary floor on all sides.

Furthermore, on less solemn occasions the cloth was to extend only midway between the credence shelf and the sanctuary floor, while on ordinary days (i.e., when not observing a feast or saint's day) only the superficies (the top edges) needed to be covered.

Fortunately, in our day and age, these regulations have relaxed - probably because Chancel Guilds, rightly, threatened mutiny - and the credence cloth, like ours here at Trinity, is "one size serves all."

However, what is even more interesting than the function of the credence and the cloth that adorns it, is the meaning behind the term.

Both credence and credenza come from the Latin "credentia" meaning trust.

Rumour has it that this peculiar name for a simple sideboard has its origins in the practice of placing food and drink on a credence to be tasted by a servant before being served to ensure that it contained no poison.

While we certainly don't have the need for such food-tasters in the church, we can trust in the fact that there is one among us ordained to that task.

For, as with several other items that are omitted but implied in the job description, the priest is always the first person to receive the sacrament.