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Christianity Today, May, 2009 |

Keeping Holy Ground Holy

A new survey suggests that seekers are not looking for user-friendly, mall-like buildings.

Nathan Bierma | posted 5/29/2009 09:49AM

In full view of drivers whizzing by on Interstate 75 near Atlanta, the Church of the Apostles is majestic, stately, and soaring. It's also daring: the building looks unmistakably and instantly like a ...

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Steve Skeete

Posted: June 02, 2009 9:46 AM

I am not into buildings necessarily, but I would admit, that if I had to choose to "worship" in either a gymnasium or a cathedral, the sense of awe and grandeur would draw me to the cathedral. Having said that, I hasten to add that the "Church" is not the building no matter how plain or how stately. The church is people wherever they may meet at any particular time. True worshippers, Jesus said, worship "in spirit and in truth". Since most "worshippers" spend most of their time outside the building, I would prefer to see them prepared to be "salt and light", than made comfortable for two or three hours a week. That is unless, of course, another survey shows that the more comfortable we make "worshippers" the more light and salt they take when they leave the building.

Roger G

Posted: June 02, 2009 8:21 AM

In the New Testament, the word which we translate as "church" is ekklesia, which literally means "gathering", and there's nothing sacred about it. In Acts 19:32, ekklesia is the word used to describe the gathered rioters who were aiming to drive Paul out of Ephesus! So isn't it unbiblical to describe a building as sacred? In the end, what makes a group of Christians a church is not how beautiful or ugly is the building that they meet in, but whether the Word of God is faithfully preached & the Sacraments properly administered (Article XIX).

MP	Posted: June 01, 2009 9:43 PM

Bravo for an timely and insightful essay! This is not a new thing, contrary to the survey results. We have been made for God, and our hearts will remain restless until they find their rest in Him. How can we discern the beauty of God's holy love in our midst when a place set apart for praise and adoration is ugly? The mega church has prided itself on stripping its buildings and spaces of all signs and symbols related to Christianity. What they have done, however, is to srip their lives of any transcendent end to know, delight in, and love; in other words, the Triune God. What is left is a human organization run by people and for people by the choice and use of immanent will to power. No wonder younger people are turned off by this stuff! Can you blame them?

Fr. Ian

Posted: June 01, 2009 9:01 AM

How do we make the church visible? God gave specific intructions for the constuction and decoration of the temple. I wonder, has He changed His mind on how He wants us to adore and worship Him? It is encouraging to read of churches building structures that in some way respond to God's early intructions regarding church design. We have become too utilitarian for our own good and certainly for making the church visible. Symbolism speaks a powerful message. Chaotic times require a clear cut message. A church that is designed and built unmistakenly as a church, as a holy place of worship, acts as a beacon. It reminds us visilbly that God is at large in our midst.

Dave N.

Posted: May 31, 2009 7:26 PM


Theater seating and conducting worship (intentionally) in a gym often speaks volumes about the #1 priority of the community--entertainment.

Andrew

Posted: May 31, 2009 9:16 AM

The average person feels more comfortable in the "traditional" church building because they are not really seeking after God, they are seeking after religion. They are not really wanting a relationship with the One they need for salvation they are wanting something to make them feel comfortable and at ease. And those who are more into "religion" and into providing an "experience" are quite willing to provide it to them ----- but is it really God that is in the equation?

Mike Burgess

Posted: May 30, 2009 7:49 AM


Great when we talk about buildings, but the church is organic. Symbols are great, but they can't be seen as an idol. The church is people. Holy ground is holy ground when two or three meet in Christ name. John Wesley said, "the world is my parish." We need to think outside the walls whether they are brick, stone, wood or open air. Attraction is more than a building it is Christ life character.

Nana	Posted: May 29, 2009 10:24 PM

Dave is right on. . . . and " 'The average person finds the symbolism and the craftsmanship compelling, beautiful, and comforting. . . . There's a desire out there to connect with something ancient, something transcendent,' says Ed Stetzer . . . 'There's a hunger to move beyond a bland evangelicalism into something with more historic roots.'" They are drawn to "traditional" church buildings, because they believe they will find in them, not only "traditional" and "orthodox" theology, not the world's.

Peter

Posted: May 29, 2009 4:17 PM

I think that there's something to be said of the "architecture" of the temple as found in Ezekiel 43. It's plan is intended, somehow, to produce awe and confession in the hearts of the people. Most of the modern churches I've been in produce nothing of the kind. Rather, they seem to inspire chatter and pleasantries. 10 “As for you, son of man, describe to the house of Israel the temple, that they may be ashamed of their iniquities; and they shall measure the plan. 11 And if they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the design of the temple, its arrangement, its exits and its entrances, that is, its whole design; and make known to them as well all its statutes and its whole design and all its laws, and write it down in their sight, so that they may observe all its laws and all its statutes and carry them out. 12 This is the law of the temple: the whole territory on the top of the mountain all around shall be most holy. Behold, this is the law of the temple.

Dave Jones

Posted: May 29, 2009 2:59 PM

"Buildings don't reach people, people reach people," says Stetzer. "We can't tell from the survey if there's a connection between the two." People don't draw people, the Father draws people. More important than the structure of the building is the structure of the worship. Is the music, the prayer, the giving and the sermon Christ exulting? That is the kind of church I like to attend, whether in a mud hut or a ancient cathedral.

J. CAMPBELL

Posted: May 29, 2009 2:38 PM


I GUESS THIS FOLLOWS SCRIPTURE...LINE UPON LINE.PRECEPT UPON PRECEPT. IN AN ERA OF SUCH UPSET, THERE IS NOTHING MORE COMFORTING THAN SOMETHING THAT FEELS LIKE SOLID ROOTS. OUR CHURCH IS A WAREHOUSE AND IT COST AS MUCH AS A REAL CHURCH.

Adam S

Posted: May 29, 2009 2:20 PM


I love to look at old churches, but I actually attend a church in a four year old building that is definately modern. I have also attended in an old converted mansion and a storefront. I look at old church but it is the people that draw me, not the building. Ed Stetzer is exactly right.

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