Well, Humpty and I finally reached Gloucester. We didn't visit the cathedral. Instead we went to look at what I said was an outstanding example of enlightened church design: St Aldates church. It was opened for worship in the 1960s with great acclaim. A Spitfire did a fly-past; trumpeters sounded a fanfare; horse-soldiers paraded; the massed bands of the Royal Marines performed. Dignitaries of all kinds gave the new church a salute. (I do tend to exaggerate but you get the point. It was after all a hyperbolic occasion.) The church today has its hyperbolic paraboloid roof and it soars. But it has fallen upon hard times and has become a counselling centre. Seventh Day Adventists use it as a place of worship. It remains inescapably a beauty.
We have two design manuals in the Bible. One is a five-minute guide to the construction of the ark. We can imagine Noah and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth, poring over the sketchy list of materials and the dimensions of the big boat. The other is a much more detailed handbook. The tabernacle had precisely defined frames, joints and hangings. Gold, silver, copper, purple yarn and fine linen were only some of the materials required to service the scheme. Craftsmen worked metal, carved wood and cut precious stones. So thorough is the specification in Exodus that later generations have been able to make replicas of the tabernacle. I remember having sight of such a model.
It did not end there. Early in the last century it was thought that if those detailed instructions had been given and recorded, there must be some intrinsic significance in this Portakabin worship structure. Eager inquirers believed they had found that significance. It amounted to a study called typology. There was a mystical meaning in the design. Why else would it be there for us? But few nowadays are interested in such inquiries. These are some of the least-read chapters in the Bible.
However, these dusty pages serve one useful purpose. They remind us of our responsibility for the design of places of worship. It is easy to get into a rut in this matter and it helps us to be taken back to first principles. From Justinian’s St Sophia via Wren’s numerous London churches to the hyperbolic paraboloid roof of St Aldate's, Gloucester or St John’s, Ermine, Lincoln there have been those who have endeavoured to do this. It doesn't have to involve hyperbole: Scargill chapel, Holy Trinity, Twydall Green, Gillingham, not to mention the acclaimed St Paul's Bow Common, London, show a different touch of imagination. Our worship of God, our creator and redeemer, demands no less. The task is an ongoing one.
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