<P> Though unusual, movable pulpits with wheels were also found in English churches . They were either wheeled into place for each service where they would be used or, as at the hospital church in Shrewsbury, rotated to different positions in the church quarterly in the year, to allow all parts of the congregation a chance to have the best sound . A portable outside pulpit of wood and canvas was used by John Wesley, and a 19th century Anglican vicar devised a folding iron pulpit for using outdoors . </P> <P> The Ancient Greek bema (βῆμα) means both' platform' and' step', and was used for a variety of secular raised speaking platforms in ancient Greece and Rome, and from those times to today for the central raised platform in Jewish synagogues . Modern synagogue bimahs are often similar in form to centrally - placed pulpits in Evangelical churches . </P> <P> The use of a bema carried over from Judaism into early Christian church architecture . It was originally a raised platform, often large, with a lectern and seats for the clergy, from which lessons from the Scriptures were read and the sermon was delivered . In Western Christianity the bema developed over time into the sanctuary and chancel (or presbytery). </P> <P> The next development was the ambo, from a Greek word meaning an elevation . This was originally a raised platform from which the Epistle and Gospel would be read, and was an option to be used as a preacher's platform for homilies, though there were others . Saint John Chrysostom (died 407) is recorded as preaching from the ambo, but this was probably uncommon at this date . In cathedrals early bishops seem often to have preached from their chair in the apse, echoing the position of magistrates in the secular basilicas whose general form most large early churches adopted . Often there were two ambos, one to each side, one used more as a platform on which the choir sang; sometimes the gospel was read, chanted or sung from one side and the epistle from the other . The location of the ambo within the church varied, with about the same range of places as modern pulpits . In ancient Syrian churches it was often placed in the centre of the nave (on both axes). Gradually the ambo came to resemble the modern pulpit in both form and function, though early examples in large churches are often large enough to accommodate several people . The steps up to the pulpit almost invariably approach it from the side or behind, and are often curved . The typical design of the Islamic minbar, where a straight flight of steps leads to the front of the pulpit, is very different . </P>

Where does the priest stand in a church