October 16, 2006
Church Architecture Today
Matthew G. Alderman, one of the brainiacs behind Shrine of the Holy Whapping, has posted these sketches of church buildings on his site.
As anyone can see, he is enormously talented and his taste definitely does not run to what is all too often the "Early Bowling Alley" look of so many churches, regardless of denominational stripe.
I would like to see a resurgence of rich architecture for our Lutheran sanctuaries. Too often I am forced to worship the august master of the universe, maker of heaven and earth, in an environment that even a Pizza Hut franchise would not inhabit. And I am sick and tired of being regaled with choruses of "Well, God doesn't care what building you worship in—it only matters what's in your heart!"
Can you guess what's in my heart now, you jackanapes!
How is God honored by what is ugly, makeshift, slipshod, leftover? A church is a material, physical reflection of our vision of our Creator. Did not this same Creator fill the earth with rich colors, textures, and natural beauty? A church does not have to be baroque and the size of two football fields to be a fit testimony to the sublimity of our Lord. I understand that the elaborate expense of constructing grand churches is most likely beyond the means of many Lutheran communities. But from the Benedictines down to the Shakers, we know that simplicity and harmony in themselves can be beautiful. Instead, I often find myself shoved into something that looks like a cross between Pee Wee's Playhouse and a 7-Eleven.
Where are my Lutheran architects?! Where? Where?
No, really—where?
As anyone can see, he is enormously talented and his taste definitely does not run to what is all too often the "Early Bowling Alley" look of so many churches, regardless of denominational stripe.
I would like to see a resurgence of rich architecture for our Lutheran sanctuaries. Too often I am forced to worship the august master of the universe, maker of heaven and earth, in an environment that even a Pizza Hut franchise would not inhabit. And I am sick and tired of being regaled with choruses of "Well, God doesn't care what building you worship in—it only matters what's in your heart!"
Can you guess what's in my heart now, you jackanapes!
How is God honored by what is ugly, makeshift, slipshod, leftover? A church is a material, physical reflection of our vision of our Creator. Did not this same Creator fill the earth with rich colors, textures, and natural beauty? A church does not have to be baroque and the size of two football fields to be a fit testimony to the sublimity of our Lord. I understand that the elaborate expense of constructing grand churches is most likely beyond the means of many Lutheran communities. But from the Benedictines down to the Shakers, we know that simplicity and harmony in themselves can be beautiful. Instead, I often find myself shoved into something that looks like a cross between Pee Wee's Playhouse and a 7-Eleven.
Where are my Lutheran architects?! Where? Where?
No, really—where?
