6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Stem to Stearn Guidance for Building Churches, January 16, 2008
This review is from: Holy Places: Matching Sacred Space with Mission and Message (Paperback)
Holy Places: Matching Sacred Space with Mission and Message Holy Places offers a most comprehensive and systematic approach to building, renovating, expanding or refurbishing churches, synagogues and mosques. The authors lay out a "stem to stern" approach that they name the sacred space model that has three phases--discern, decide and do. Their stated aim is to "help congregational leaders...hear what their buildings are saying and then learn how to implement a process ... to ensure that the building communicates the message they want to convey."
The discern phase, often short changed in many church (synagogue, mosque) building projects is made up of discovery of the congregation's identity, mission and demographics. Frankly, I experienced this section as the most refreshing and interesting part of the book, particularly because it asks the team to see the congregation in its true context and mission.
At the same time this section concerned me on one particular point. From a Christian missiological perspective, focusing the question on "what is the mission of your congregation" could easily default to a self-referential exploration and fail to understand local mission in light of the missio dei (the mission of God). For that horizon readers will need to engage in extended biblical reflection and readings in missiology (Darrel Guder, Lesslie Newbigin, and others advocating the incarnational missional church) as a way of getting at questions that are prior to asking "Who is God calling us to be?"
The decide phase chapters include four dimensions: aesthetics, financial concerns, project delivery, and resources. In these chapters the authors offer a plain spoken understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of five methods of delivery (design-bid-build, design-build, etc.), a clear look at the tools and resources for the team's education and preparation for selecting "service providers," the process of getting at appropriate aesthetics, and the means of fund raising. As with all of the chapters in the book, each concludes with a helpful "bullet points" summary of the chapter and a set of questions for the sacred space team to deal with in light of the chapter's content.
The do phase treated in the last three chapters of the book considers communications, spirituality, and oversight--topics that are often overlooked in practice to the detriment of ongoing congregational life and the neglect of which sometimes results in a bumpy landing or crash of the project. While these, with the exception of oversight, may be softer matters, the authors hold the vision of matching the project to the message inherent in the process.
The book features seven useful appendices, from "facilities assessment" to "working with an architect" to a glossary and a very practical annotated resource list.
There was one notable oversight in the book. I found no clear treatment of the role and gifts that a liturgical design consultant could bring to the process, especially during the "discern" and "decide" phases. Readers might want to go to the Association of Consultants for Liturgical Space (ACLS) for more information and contacts.
No book or resource offers everything congregational leaders need in order to address the complex and demanding issues in building, renovating, expanding or redesigning a church, synagogue, or mosque. If I were going to recommend one book for its comprehensiveness and practicality, it would be Holy Spaces.
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