Architecture

Talking About Worship: How to Start and Sustain Faithful Conversations

This session will begin with a brief introduction to anthropological categories for talking about worship--liturgical time, space, environment, action, persons, music, language, etc. Participants will then engage in small group conversations about worship, using a process devised especially for facilitating conversations in congregations.

January 1, 2008
How Church Architecture Affects Lord's Supper Practices

Does your church visually convey a message that contradicts your theology of communion or mass? Mark A. Torgerson explains how church architecture and sanctuary design can inhibit or enhance a more full and communal Eucharist celebration. A feature story on how Church architecture affects Lord's Supper practices.

August 17, 2007
Where Then Shall We Live? Location as Fundamental Choice for Christian Discipleship, Worship, and Evangelism

This session raised the question as to whether some, if not all, of the ministries of the church might be enriched if they could be re-integrated around particular geographic locations. Specifically, this session will suggest the possibility that choosing where to live or what ministries of the church to affiliate with based on where one lives can be a fundamental act of Christian discipleship.

January 1, 2007

Embracing Our Inheritance: Appreciating and Maximizing Our Worship Environments

The physical locations and buildings that we use for worshiping the Triune God are influenced by the theological beliefs and choices of those who have gone before us.

January 1, 2007
Culturally Diverse and Holistic Worship

Worship throughout scripture and history is culturally diverse, not monolithic, reflecting the diversity of God and his creation. True biblical worship is also holistic, involving the soul, the mind, and the body. This workshop explored the culturally diverse and holistic nature of worship, with reference especially to African American, Caribbean, and Hispanic worship.

January 1, 2007
Love Your Neighborhood: Thinking about Church Buildings and Congregations as Part of the Neighborhood

This session considered a church building as being part of, and contributing to, the neighborhood that surrounds it. We explored how a building connects to a neighborhood in terms of scale and style, helping to shape the public realm, and how threshold points operate between the church and the public.

January 1, 2007

Steve Fridsma on the Church as a Third Place

Architects Steve Fridsma and James Vander Molen often speak at conferences such as the annual Worship Facilities Conference and Expo. But whether their topic is architecture for the emerging church or how to reuse commercial buildings as churches, Fridsma says they usually touch on a favorite subject, developing community in worship.

October 27, 2006
Designing New Churches to Build a Sense of Community

Building a new church lets you rethink the message you send through its interior and exterior design. Good architectural choices can improve worship participation, promote a sense of community, and offer your church as a welcome "third place." A feature story exploring the design of new churches to promote community.

October 27, 2006
Renovating Churches to Build a Sense of Community

Good architectural choices can improve worship participation, promote a sense of community, and make neighbors feel more welcome. A feature story exploring how church renovations can build a sense of community.

August 4, 2006

Robert Nickola on designing equal access churches

“As religious architects, we have the ability to be holistic and think of the entire church population from Day One,” says Robert “Bob” Nickola, senior principal of Jaeger, Nickola & Associates in metro Chicago.

June 9, 2006
Accessibility in Worship Architecture: Does your church welcome everyone?

Becoming an accessible church involves far more than installing a wheelchair entrance. It includes making design choices so anyone can access the platform and lead worship. A feature story exploring accessibility in churches.

June 9, 2006
Theological Reasons for Baptistry Shapes

In her wonderful book, A Place for Baptism, Regina Kuehn reminds readers that the baptismal font’s shape reveals baptismal truth, and the font points to baptism’s key element, water. She invites churches to think more about baptism’s sacramental weight and "the radical nature of our baptismal promises," than about whether the font is pretty.

May 12, 2006