WHY DO EPISCOPAL CHURCHES HAVE RED DOORS? DR. GIL HAAS - ST. AUGUSTINE OF CANTERBURY EPISCOPAL CHURCH

There are many reasons why church doors are painted red.  For many churches, the color red symbolizes the “blood of Christ”, which is the “entry” into salvation for those who enter.  Red was painted on the north, south, and east doors of a church making “the sign of the cross” marking the church as a safety zone from spiritual dangers.  For others, the red door recalled the sprinkling of the door lintels of the Israelites with the blood of lambs on the night of Passover.  Beginning in the Middle Ages, red represented a color that denoted a place of sanctuary which offered physical safety from outside evils.  If you were being pursued by someone, you would be safe if you could reach the church door.  Pursuers could proceed no further.  Furthermore, prior to the reformation, the Church did not have to abide by civil law.  Some believe that the red color signifies the tongues of flame of Pentecost implying that the Holy Spirit is within.  The red doors of Episcopal churches once signified that the mortgage had been fully paid.  But many sources simply state that “there is really no definitive reason” for this old tradition.

~Dr. Gil Haas, St. Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church