I just heard an update on NPR about the controversy of megachurches that are cancelling Christmas day services. I think Ed already mentioned the irony of the evangelical whinning about the shift to Happy Holidays, etc.
So I thought I would post a link to an article at Slate magazine about
megachurch architecture It has a slide show as well. At some point I would really like to spend more time thinking about church architecture. Look for an article withing the next five years. By the way I should say that my goal over the next five years is to publish several articles on a variety of topics in a variety of publications. This is partly to start building my Phd application, but more about starting my career as an academic taking part in architectural debate. To date I have had one article pblished in the department journal, and edited the same journal the following year. Sure it's just a department journal, but you have to start somewhere.
4 comments:
it's a start i'd like to make as well
the last comment referred to getting published (journal).
but, some of those megachurch designs aren't bad. really, willow creek was a pretty dope looking building from the outside. true, it lacks religious adornment, but it still looked nice.
another thing, from the article, was the concept that the term megachurch is akin to mcmansion. i'm not sure about that one. that is, not everyone thinks of the idea of megachurch as bad. i'm generally not offended by the size of the church, but rather the weak theology, poor practices that it embraces, etc. so, you could be a megachurch that is theologically sound, embraces the ministry of Christ, and is good. or, you could just be a ginormus building stuffed with people who only care about being seen.
What I've found in the Megachurch movement is a generation of spiritually-seeking people (or non-grounded seekers) who grew up with the concert-going arena-rock experience who see that the size of something, albeit a concert or a church service, holds its value based on the sheer size of the event. Note that this generation wants its churches, houses and automobiles in a venti size. You decide whether this warrants a value judgment; I'll keep mine to myself. Interesting discussion, though, especially in the theological and ecumenical statements made in the church architecture.
i think the article is based on a book Witold Rybczynski has coming out soon. He is an architecture critic, so I'm not sure how much stock I would put in any of his comments about church doctrine or the people untill I knew more.
I think there is a place for monumental religious architecture, and the new Moneo cathedral in LA is very interesting. Of course it raises questions about how money should be spent...
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