Bowing before the altar

Dear pastors:

Recently, while talking to a dear Christian who happened to attend a 2008 Christmas service in Pomona, CA, and the person asked a question about a UMC pastor's gesture or act of walking toward, stopping, and bowing down before the altar of the UMC; and I immediately encouraged the person to call and ask the pastor directly. He has not had the courage to ask yet. So I told him maybe the pastor was showing reverence to God during the service.

It was a gesture I had seen done before, but I had never given any more thought about it until yesterday. I have searched my heart and asked myself:

Are we to bow before the altar? Is it about the lights, the Bible?
Are we teaching our church members to bow before the altar to show reverence to God?
Why did we do it? Is this a Methodist tradition? Should it be practiced among UM churches?
Is God sitting on the altar there? Is God's presence revealed there?
What is the theology behind this practice?
What are we communicating to our church members or unbelievers who attended our service?

What is the Spirit of God saying to us, to the church of Jesus Christ today? He's coming to prepare the church for the coming of the Lord. No more church as usual as we invited Jesus to stand in a corner or outside the door until we've done our rituals and preached our sermons and made our altar calls. He is calling us to experience His presence, see His glory revealed and experience His power to save, to heal and to deliver.

Oh how powerful are the Methodist pastors and/or the committees are. We have control and allow God to do a certain things in the church.
Until when will the Spirit of God be allowed to freely stir our hearts, quicken our minds, revive our spirits and empower us to dwell and to experience God's presence and power?

Pastor Linh