In placing a round table at the center of our worship we mark a radical departure from worship that faces a high altar. Both forms have been symbols of reconciliation. The altar sees reconciliation as the result of a once-bloody sacrifice, especially of the sacrifice of a son to his father. The round table sees reconciliation emerging in the meeting and eating together at table. The altar form finds its center at Good Friday, with ancient roots in Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac. The round table emerges at Holy Thursday, in the disciples' resurrection encounters with the Christ, and at Pentecost.
We can reflect at great length on the implications of the two worship forms for our understanding of reconciliation. They sharpen the difference between reconciliation within a hierarchical relationship, especially patriarchal hierarchy, and reconciliation as a new relationship among women and men who see themselves as essentially equal. The former focuses on dynamics of obedience, the latter on dynamics of persuasion and mutual empathy. The covenant that emerges at the altar is a hierarchical covenant offered by a king to his vassal. The kind of covenant emerging at the table is one of mutual promise among fellow citizens.