One of the hangovers from days of old at Moore College is Cash Chapel; a ridiculously impractically shaped church building. The uncomfortable pews - two deep on either side down the length of the building - face each other. Cash Chapel is still used for a couple of the smaller meetings each week, but from the stacks of cardboard boxes filled with books which sit in the entry as well as under all the pews, it seems to be viewed more as a storeroom than the 'sacred' space as similar buildings of that age are often idolised.
If Moore College wasn't evangelical and cared more about upholding tradition than telling people about Jesus, then Cash Chapel would probably be the heart of the College, and perhaps even of the entire diocese. If this were true, the occurrence I spotted this afternoon could have been seen as a bit of an affront.
At the very least it's a sign of the times;
(Photo taken outside Cash Chapel 2/6/2010)
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Nice photo!!
ReplyDeleteyeah, because practicality is THE criterion for buildings?
ReplyDeleteWell, even such a measure as practicality is notoriously difficult to use as the measure of success. For example, uncomfortable pews can be seen either as a subtle donation to the chiropractic profession, or a way of getting people to stay awake during boring sermons!
ReplyDeleteBut to put it in the false proposition of architectural beauty versus practicality, then I am appropriately torn.
One of my most favourite shows on television is Grand Designs (http://izaacta.blogspot.com/2009/11/history-of-cumberland-uni-church.html) and I have definitely grown in my appreciation of the beauty that can be achieved in construction. And I am aware of the positive and negative psychological affect that design has on human beings. So thumbs up for architecture.
But lets be honest, the creation of these architectural marvels that are historically significant church buildings, have left many a church with an expensive to maintain and impractical space. This can have particularly significant costs for the proclamation of the gospel. So thumbs up for practicality.
Perhaps I may offer a solution to this potentially incompatible proposition of art vs pragmatism?
Our desire to spend exorbitant amounts of money on excessive and extravagant construction is in most situations a failure to grasp the significance of the times we are in living in being the final days, and an expression of the consumerist society in which we are so dramatically absorbed. It is a further aspect of 21st century Christianity which exposes the corruption of our hearts and the failure to live differently from the world and its desires.
In some sense practicality vs beauty isn't a false dichotomy because it echoes the larger battle of valuing the things of this world above the kingdom of God.
That said, it is possible to achieve both, but extremely rare.
A final thought;
I'm pretty sure I've been thinking all day about arguing the exact opposite to what I have above, in relation to the article on MasterChef which appears on the back of the latest copy of Eternity.
Okay, I'm officially back on the fence.
Cash Chapel isn't as old and therefore venerable as you might think. It was built towards the end of World War 2.
ReplyDeleteAs for as the impracticality of the pews facing each other, I have heard (somebody correct me if I go off-track) that this was an innovation brought in during the Reformation to reflect the fact that the congregation were just as important as what went on up-front.
I actually like being able to eyeball the people across from me, looking into their faces as we sing to encourage and edify one another, rather than singing in adoration to the 'altar' up front.
Okay, so its not as old as I thought (though it wouldn't be hard for it to be more venerable than I thought).
ReplyDeleteI like the pews facing each other, for singing and the like. But I also like to finish the gathering without a sore neck. And I know you know Anglican churches don't have altars, they just have tables. Which are completely different. (Which I assume you meant by your inverted commas)
(Tom again, just changed users)
ReplyDeleteYep, there's no altar in an Anglican church. The problem is that the table looks pretty similar to an altar, just one which has been pulled away from the wall. So, just to make sure us Anglicans know that it isn't an altar, we turn the chairs sideways and face one another, rather than the table, lest we see it as something worth worshipping.