If Le Corbusier was right in saying that a house is a machine for living in, it may equally well be true that a church (building, that is) is a machine for worshipping in. And just as a house is designed in such a way that it shapes what the occupants do, so a church has a similar effect on worshippers. Those who draw up our forms of worship have something of a blind-spot at this point. The script is vital but there are other factors.
And here we must consider the worshipping environment of the large number of congregations that worship in churches designed by that prolific Victorian architect George Gilbert Scott. Scott took the view that a place of worship must follow the pattern prescribed by his medieval predecessors. That means a church with a nave, north and south aisles, chancel, transepts, plus desirable features such as tower and spire. Churches following this formula were constructed all over the country by Scott and his team.
Of course, the medieval pattern was modified. Worshippers sat in pews rather than standing on a rush-strewn floor while the weakest went to the wall. Stained glass was in. Wall-painting was out. Music was provided by a pipe-organ rather than an ensemble of players with views of their own on what was appropriate. But in general the lay-out of the building meant that a worshipper knew he was expected to be: static, receptive and undemonstrative. Above all, he was to know his place.
Scott's finest church, he reckoned, was All Souls, Halifax. With a spire soaring to 236ft it was a landmark building. It is now redundant. Scott's church St Nikolai, Hamburg was for a couple of years the tallest structure in the world at 483ft.
Here are a few of his multitudinous parish churches: St George's Minster, Doncaster, St James's, New Brighton, Wirral, St Mary's, Ambleside, St Paul's, Chippenham and Holy Trinity, Boston (in which town Scott met his future wife Caroline Oldrid). In each case worshippers have to come to terms with a building that probably does not entirely match the needs of 21st century Christians at worship.
Things can be done with a neo-gothic building. Holy Trinity, Ripon has gone underground. St Philip’s, Penn Fields, Wolverhampton has gone upstairs. Holy Trinity, Norwich has installed a rake (as in a theatre). St Mary’s, Ashton on Mersey is one of many churches that has enlarged itself and re-ordered its interior. Renovations and major alterations have not been without their problems, but remember the collapsing towers at Ely and Chichester cathedrals. And if you are fortunate enough to start your building from scratch you can follow the example of Ravenshead and begin with first principles. That means a ‘gather round’ pattern as opposed to the neo-gothic pattern.
And the removal of pews is always a first step.
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