Posted 20 February 2007 - 09:09 AM
If, as the GR Pres article seems to indicate, this move is based on a desire to reach out to the under-served in our midst – then I am hopeful that the members of Bethlehem have given this adequate, prayerful thought and remain committed to their goal.
If this decision is based on financial survival, then some of the numbers and math suggested in this thread give me reason to be very worried. Unfortunately, many churches are led by small groups of inexperienced part time volunteers who are simply ill-equipped to wrangle decisions at this scale – and who can be easily distracted from their core mission as an organization. But again, if Bethlehem’s aspirations are indeed to serve – then I am hopeful that they can accomplish their goals.
That being said, this situation is arguably unique given the urban nature of their future location – and I think we need to be very careful when we start to discuss this instance as evidence of a much larger architectural trend.
GrDad’s comments regarding flexibility are valid, but I would argue that flexibility does not, by itself, warrant the abandonment of architectural excellence. I am personally of the opinion that this trend towards “pole barn churches” is part of a larger, societal trend toward watered-down theology and doctrine. In very general terms, as congregations compromise their theology and abandon any sense of formality in their worship (or places of worship) they are following the same path that brought us Costco and Sam’s Club instead of more “meaningful” and “committed” presences like local grocers and hardware stores who fully understood the full breadth of their role in the community. It simply wreaks of the same “big box” homogenization we’ve seen on the retail side.
Do churches really want to go down the same path that has created our society’s current attitude of “ I don’t care where I buy it or what impact it has on my community – as long as it is the cheapest price on earth”?
I do not wish to debate religion here, rather I think it is absolutely relevant to remind ourselves that churches have played one of, if not the most, significant role in architecture in any part of the world for millenniums. It wasn’t until high-rise architecture was engineered that we experienced buildings taller than churches in any village, town or city on the planet. These places of worship have long represented and continue to be the primary identity of villages and neighborhoods around the world.
While I am not Catholic, I find it worth noting that despite some of its internal conflicts, the Catholic Church continues to remain committed to creating and preserving appropriately scaled architecture as a symbol of its centuries-long presence and collective faith around the globe - and as a strong statement of its fervent commitment to its original doctrine. At the very least, they have not willfully decided to abandon their theology and community responsibility in exchange for filling a warehouse with “drive-through, fast-food” parishioners who value convenience over substance.
I am not saying that all congregations that worship in warehouses are evil. Rather I am saying that when we focus on our society’s architectural legacy we need to be very careful not to let secular or behavioral whims distract us. To sit idly by and watch as a proliferation of “pole barn churches” dummy-down religion’s role in creating long-term architectural value is to encourage the ongoing decay of ours – and any – culture in general. We need to be mindful that it is no accident that places of worship compromise the vast majority of all we have left to study from past generations archeologically. Will we be proud if future generations have nothing more than the ancient remains of strip malls from which to learn about our cultural and spiritual values?
Quite simply, it is absolutely possible to create flexible worship space and still preserve and/or create worthwhile architecture that appropriately celebrates any religion’s multi-generational role in a community.
On an entirely lighter note: has anyone else noticed that the developer’s name on this project is “Pentecost”? Pentecost is arguably one of the most significant holidays on nearly any church’s calendar. That is an incredible coincidence that still has me truly puzzled.
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tamias6, on Feb 18 2007, 10:09 PM, said:
