What church looks like. . .

I saw a story about the Roman Catholic National Eucharistic Congress held in the US, apparently the first in many decades.  It brought together many thousands of people from all over the country in a stadium style setting to celebrate their faith in the sacrament of the Eucharist.  Regardless of what you think of Rome or this gathering, I would direct your attention to the backdrop for their celebration of the Mass.  The images projected were cathedral style images, perhaps even photos of actual gothic cathedrals or large sanctuaries -- I do not know.  In other words, when they wanted the setting to look like church, they drew upon the most traditional images possible to make the stadium style venue look like church.

There have been decades of architects and liturgical consultants who have said that the perfect image of for the celebration of the Eucharist is a living room.  You can trace the development of this idea across the years beginning I think in the 1950s.  The landscape is decidedly horizontal.  The result is sad and unappealing except to artsy snobs who think they know best for all of us.  This image reminds us that when people think of church, they do not think of concrete slabs or low ceilings or wooden benches or simplistic furniture.  They think just the opposite.

Some years ago the Lifeway division of the Southern Baptists surveyed those who were not Christians and those who were not inside the Church and they all agreed that they thought churches should look like churches and not like shopping malls or living rooms or the atrium of a skyscraper or a stadium or a convention center or anything else.  It is high time that we disavow the unfortunate pattern of the 1950s and thereafter and return to making churches look like churches.  It is what the people inside the Church want and it appears to be what those not of the household of God desire.  It is honest in a way that modern architecture with its hard and unadorned horizontal lines is not.  To tell you the truth, I am over it.  We should not allow architects to experiment upon churches as if this was their canvas to paint.  The buildings of the Church have a distinct purpose and identity that must be front and center.  No, I am not saying everything has to look like a gothic cathedral or an English country parish or a Romanesque structure but it does need to look like a church and it must be suited for what happens in there.  Some years ago I wrote of the striking but unfortunate structure once called the Crystal Cathedral that a Roman Catholic diocese adapted into their cathedral.  It was a real estate bargain but cost a hunk of change to result in a building that still does not reflect well what takes place inside.  That should be first and foremost in the minds of any building committee -- not simply what does it look like but how does it work for its purpose?  It is not a matter of what you like but what fits what happens in worship.  Maybe some churches could get by with lecture halls but not a sacramental church.  Maybe some churches could get by with a living room but not one where the focus is on preaching and the Sacrament of Christ's body and blood.  No, we need to give the snobs fair notice that they will not experiment on our dollar in creating forms that do not serve their purpose well.