What does your sanctuary say about your priorities?

[pastor's wife]

I LOVE places that feel like church, soaring ceilings, sunlight slanting through tall stained glass, a hushed reverance. But I know that God is worshipped in spirit and in truth not in a building made with hands so even though emotionally I'm drawn to beautiful architecture and ambiance, intellectually I know that God is not limited to that. Also I love worshipping with a live praise band too!

[Presbygirl]

I'd just like to say that unless Chad Williams makes an appearance on this thread soon, it looks like he "lit a fuse and ran to hide".

[WifeofBill]

The church I grew up in meets in a theater. Every few weeks the set would change, made for some interesting backdrops. Loved that church, come as you are, everyone welcome. I think the fact that it didn't feel like a church made people who normally wouldn't set foot in a church feel more at ease. We had no pulpit, no communion table, no altar. When we celebrated the Lords supper it was served by different people within the church. I even remember everyone served. Once you partook you took the elements and served the person behind you in line. I loved that services because even as a kid I was able to serve.

I've never felt comfortable in traditional churches or church buildings. Our church in PA met in a renovated grocery store, our old church here in FL met in a roller rink, in fact before they redid the floors they would clear the chairs after the service so you could skate.

Looking for a new church home, curious what the new church will look like.

[aisforazebra]

(10-30-2011 11:17 PM)WifeofBill Wrote:  our old church here in FL met in a roller rink, in fact before they redid the floors they would clear the chairs after the service so you could skate.

jealous!

[Chad Williams]

To the one that said I "lit a fuse and ran", in a way I did. I just found it to be a interesting tidbit and shared it. I admit that I didn't do alot of deep pondering on this, but it made sense in a way. The responses have been interesting and some what thought provoking.

And for the record, while I am a Pentecostal, that does not mean I believe we are the only ones that hold to these spiritual beliefs stated in the oringinal post.

Also, you guys seem to be a little sensitive to just because certain words are capitalized. I believe that was done to draw atttention to them, not a sinister intent. Lighten up y'all.

[UptownHippie]

The coolest church I ever went to was in an old warehouse that had previously been used as a crack den and meetup spot for prostitutes/johns. I've worshiped in some amazing, beautiful churches, but I've never experienced the feeling that a space was claimed for God as strongly as I did in that metal building with black walls and folding chairs.

[alm517]

We meet in an old credit union building, with a very colorful ceiling. Not sure what to take from that.

[steve95054]

While we recognize that the actual Church is comprised of the body of believers, and not of any particular building or shape of building, we Orthodox believe that setting aside ("santifying") a space for regular use by the Body (since we do have bodies, and are not just amorphous floating things) is a normal, beneficial practice. We also believe that everything about said space (within whatever local, practical constraints exist) can and should be used to assist with the worship of God, and the teaching and edifcation of the Body, on both the conscious and unconscious levels.

Wikipedia article on Easter Orthodox Architecture

See also, the OCA's brief summary, and this overview. From St. Tikhon's Monastery, this more article is also useful.

So, to answer the OP's question: Yes. A resounding Yes. It does.

[Papa Bear]

Sometimes a lot of thought went into planning how a space was laid out for worship, and sometimes not. In nearly every church, baptisms are done in a place where they are easy for the congregation to observe. In most Baptist churches I've seen, the baptistry is front and center, and is usually the highest part of the platform. The Baptist church my parents attend has a <i>very</i> modern building (circa 1960). The baptistry is to the far right. The bottom of the tank is level with the main floor of the auditorium, and the top is level with the platform. Unless you are in the front pew, it almost impossible to see the person being baptized.

While it can be interesting to speculate on why a space was laid out in a particular way, unless you are the architect or a member of the building committee (or in charge of setting up when a church first takes over an existing space) you may be completely wrong about why that arrangement was chosen. If you are a member of the church, you will understand how the space is used, but after the first few years, if a church keeps the same layout (and they usually do) the real reason is 'because we've always done it that way.'

If you are not a member of that denomination, let alone that church, your speculations will almost certainly be wrong. One IFBx preacher told me he could walk into a church and immediately tell if they taught false doctrine. If there were two pulpits, that meant the church's teaching was false. This seemed absurd to me, even at the time, but I wondered what the purpose of the two pulpits could be. Later, I attended a church with two pulpits. I learned that only one was called a pulpit. The other was called a lectern. Scripture was read from the lectern. Preaching was done from the pulpit. There was never any doubt when the pastor (or lay reader) was reading from the Holy Scriptures, and when he was preaching his own words.

That said, you can read books on architecture that explain not only the purposes of various church spaces and furniture, but the traditional thinking behind them in many, but not all, churches of a given denomination or doctrine. For example, some churches do consciously choose to put the pulpit front and center to emphasize the centrality of preaching to their faith and practice. Others put the pulpit to one side (and the lectern, if they have one, on the other side) while purposely putting the altar not only front and center, but above the pulpit to show that they take the Real Presence <i>very</i> seriously.

I choose the word altar consciously. In some churches, the altar and the table of the Lord are synonymous. In many IFB churches, communion is served from the Lord's table and distributed to the congregation in their pews, while the altar is the area where people go to pray when they come forward in response to the invitation, somewhat similar to Finney's mourner's bench. Depending on the layout, it may include the communion table, the steps to the platform, and / or the entire area between the pews and the platform. In some Lutheran churches, the communion elements are brought down from the altar to "the table of the Lord" which refers to what is called the "altar rail" or "communion rail" in some other churches. In the Lutheran church I was in, you come up to the table of the Lord as the usher releases your pew, then stand in front of the table, wait for the pastor to invite you to the table of the Lord, then kneel to receive communion. You do <i>not</i> kneel before the pastor invites you!

I find church architecture a fascinating subject for study. I try to avoid idle speculation on the subject because it carries the danger of judging a brother for his church's architecture, or worse, judging him for reasons I erroneously think are behind its architecture.

[Mathis]

Interesting insights.

Our church took none of this into consideration when we modified our stage back 2 years ago. We have a raised stage with three chairs to the back, huge mahogany pulpit in the middle that we move when we have our contemporary service. Singers and Leader are in the middle, with keyboards on one side, bass and drums on the other.

There's no significance to any of it. We did it how we thought it would look good, provide us with more stage room, and provide people with a better vantage point. The whole idea of our belief system being pulled into question because of how we designed our stage is somewhat ludicrous. Sorry but I'll be the first to laugh at someone who says that we must be of the such and such persuasion because of some stage layout.