An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church

Three-Decker Pulpit

A structure in which the clerk's pew was on the lowest level, the officiant's reading pew was on the middle level, and the pulpit was on the highest level. It was typically located in the nave. With this arrangement, the sermon was preached from the highest level of the structure. The “three-Decker” pulpit came into use in England and America during the eighteenth century. See Reading Pew.

Glossary definitions provided courtesy of Church Publishing Incorporated, New York, NY,(All Rights reserved) from “An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians,” Don S. Armentrout and Robert Boak Slocum, editors.