Making Property Serve Mission:

Re-thinking the Church's Buildings for the 21st Century

Fred Batterton

• Publisher: Studio B Architects
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780995387515
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Church

Opening with a compelling discussion of the Christian church’s core business, architect Fred Batterton considers different types of church property and their impact on mission, enabling us to assess whether our church buildings are a help or a hindrance. Drawing on his wealth of expertise Fred Batterton then explores with us the opportunities that buildings can offer, processes that enable development, options for financing and the outcomes that can be expected.
This book offers answers to the following questions:
What is the Church’s core business?
What property do you have?
How can property serve mission?
Is my building a help or a hindrance?
What are our opportunities?
Who has the skills to help?
What are the basic design considerations?
What are the processes?
How can we pay for it?
How should we proceed?
The book is richly illustrated with 77 colour illustrations and follows a logical sequence of understanding, concluding with frequently asked questions and a call to action.
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Part One: What is the Church’s core business?

Chapter 1: Worshipping God—loving with heart, soul and mind

Worship is the fundamental act in our relationship with God; we are called to love God. Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37). People have developed a wide range of ways in which to express this love for God. These expressions range from the Orthodox tradition with a very consistent liturgy through to the new free churches, independent of any denomination, that use contemporary language and music.

While standing in the queue to pay at IKEA recently, I got into a conversation with a lady who thought that any architect working with churches must be converting them to alternative uses because the church was in decline. I told her that in the UK over the past 10 years, almost 1500 churches had been added to the existing number.7 She responded that they must be “happy clappy” churches, not real ones in her opinion. I thought about the great value of having a range of expressions of worship available to us in the Christian Church.

Different expressions

By understanding what the church is called to do and be, we can shape buildings so that they serve and shape positively the church’s core business. The property and buildings that currently serve these different expressions may be quite different but will all have validity for different traditions, personalities and experiences.

Orthodox: Each element of the architecture including the number of domes on the roof is symbolic. The specific layout of the main sanctuary is important and the building will contain icons which may be images or relics. These become significant in the life of the local worshipping community, need to be carefully located and the orientation of the building, facing east has been important.

Catholic: Again the sanctuary layout is significant and must allow for a sequence of activities around the Mass. Side chapels are often provided to respect a particular saint and confessional booths have been provided.

Anglican/Episcopalian: As with other denominational categories, there are a wide range of worship styles within this group which have been categorised as Anglo-Catholic, liberal and evangelical. The Church of England in the UK has over 16,000 parish churches, 80% of which are listed historic buildings and most were constructed as the significant focal point of the local community. Whilst these have traditionally faced east, this is no longer a requirement but the focal point will still be the Holy Communion table as the Eucharist is still the central act of worship.

Uniting/Methodist: the buildings of Methodism were originally characterised by absolute simplicity following the ideals of John and Charles Wesley. The central focus was often the pulpit to highlight the importance of preaching and the Word. In Australia, following the act of union, in some cases there has been a move towards process and liturgy with some symbolism, at local level.8

Presbyterian: In Scotland, the Presbyterian Church remains the pre-eminent Protestant expression of church and, in Australia, many Presbyterian churches chose to exclude themselves from the act of union that created the Uniting Church. By doing this they have been able to maintain their traditions, which have remained relatively unchanged for many decades compared with other denominations.

Protestant (Baptist / Church of Christ): The Baptist Church focuses upon the central act of the baptism of believers as teenagers or adults which takes place in a central baptistery tank in full view of all of the members, usually by full immersion. In the United States many of these are large churches and in Australia, Crossway Baptist is the largest, with many other smaller churches remaining from the building booms of the 1880s, 1920s and 1960s. Today, the focus remains on preaching and contemporary music supported by multimedia.

Pentecostal / Charismatic: For many Pentecostal churches the absence of visual symbolism is important. The expression of worship rejects traditional liturgy, the music is unashamedly contemporary and service leaders and preachers aim to impact the whole person by engaging emotions as well as intellect during times of Bible teaching and music worship.

Independent: These range from the small Gospel Hall to the very large Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. They are generally not aligned to any denomination and enjoy the freedom that this brings not to have to comply with expectations other than those found in the Bible. The worship spaces may be similar to the Pentecostal and some have developed local offshoots such as Northside Church in Atlanta and Saddleback in Los Angeles which transmit the sermon by live video link to other locations.

Emerging Church: They question the traditional hall-like room with rows of pews. They will be “creative, experiential, and sensory in their worship gatherings9” and aim to be more integrated into contemporary society. This philosophy will have them occupying buildings within the culture that they serve.

However, it has to be acknowledged that, within some denominations there is a true “broad church” of different emphases, what used to be known as churchmanship. Some Anglicans may feel more at home in a Baptist church than in another Anglican church whereas other Anglicans will experience a stronger sense of connection to God in a Catholic church. Denominational differences are increasingly less important to many people. In Blackburn North, the senior ministers of three local churches, the Baptist, the Church of Christ and the Anglican, meet together regularly to pray for their community. This type of corporate thinking and action arises from the ground up and is not denominationally directed. Each of these churches carried out major building works at around the same time.

Liturgy for everyone

Liturgy of worship is normally associated with Catholic or Anglican expressions of worship. However, Stephen Burns suggests that virtually all churches have liturgy. Baptists will focus upon the importance of baptism and for many Pentecostal or independent churches, the “altar call” or regular opportunity for personal prayer towards the end of the service is also a form of frequent liturgy. He also says, “Space has a visual theology, and decisions about the arrangement of space for worship may even define the range of experience possible within it.” The shape of the worship space assists to form us into the Body. He also speaks about the arrangement of seating and its impact upon the gathering.10

For churches that apply significance to symbolism, Stephen Burns11 talks about four key elements around worship: Scripture, there should be focus for The Word; Baptism, “the gospel told with my name in it”; the Communion Table or altar for the Mass; and finally the assembly itself. The gathered church should not...