Evangelicals and Church Architecture: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

Let me tell you about a book I’ve been looking for but I don’t think exists.

I want a book on church architecture. But not a history book that details the different movements and styles. Interesting, but not what I’m looking for. I’m also not looking for a book that explains church symbols, takes you a on tour of European cathedrals, or defines architectural terms (even funny ones like nave and buttress). I want a book that can help churches think theologically about the building they have and the building they want to have.

I don’t want a touchy-feely book about discerning the Spirit’s leading in choosing urinals or a how-to book on negotiating land agreements and hiring a general contractor. I’d like a book with some pictures, but not pictures of the world’s most famous and least reproducible churches. I don’t want goofy looking avant garde churches either, the kind where the floor is made of recycled pop cans and the windows are the size of pinholes. I want pictures of normal churches that normal people attend. I’ll take some “high” churches and some “low” churches. I’ll take rural, city, and suburban. Just give me a look at the insides and outsides of churches that you might actually afford to build. I don’t care if the book is pricey; I’d like some color photos and a few floor plans.

Most of all, I want someone to talk theologically about church buildings (this is a good place to start). I want this person to be an evangelical who understands the culture of evangelical congregations. I want the author to understand that church buildings are not ultimate, that “sacred space” is wherever Jesus dwells. But I also want this person to understand that church buildings don’t have to be ugly. They don’t have to be strictly utilitarian. They don’t have to look like factories or office buildings. I want this person to help readers and churches think about how a church building can reflect good theology. Whether you worship in a crowded storefront or a downtown landmark there are ways to think theologically about your church.

The closest thing I’ve found to this sort of book is Christ and Architecture by Donald Bruggink and Carl Droppers. The book is beneficial, but not without serious drawbacks. It’s outdated and heavily European. It assumes a high church world with big organs and small congregations. And it is far too dogmatic.

Still, the book raises a lot of good issues and lays down some helpful principles.

For example, Bruggink argues, “Because the Word is indispensable, the pulpit, as the architectural manifestation of the Word, must make its indispensability architecturally clear.” He says the Communion Table should look like a real table that you might sit around for a meal. He discourages congregations from installing the organ or building the choir loft front and center as if they were part of the means of grace. You don’t have to agree with all of Bruggink’s assertions to realize he is asking questions most churches don’t think about. I would never suggest church’s that ignore these kinds of architectural considerations are unfaithful. But what have we got to lose by thinking theologically about the buildings we will be baptized in, married in, and will visit every week to worship the living God?

And then there’s the matter of beauty. Churches have different financial resources, reside in different contexts, and are filled with different people. I don’t expect that every church building should be in the running for architectural awards. But we should hope to add to, rather than subtract from, the aesthetics of the surrounding neighborhood. As Larry Norman might say, why should the liberals have all the beautiful churches?

So if anyone wants to write a book that helps us think responsibly, creatively, historically, and most of all theologically, about these things, I know a blog that can give you some free publicity.