[Re]oriented Design

I was talking to my CareGroup leader earlier today and somehow we got onto the idea of compassion ministry. Essentially, we decided that the difference between the early church and the modern church (as it applies to compassion ministry) is a result of the decline in community.  He specifically cited suburban sprawl as one of the causes for this problem.

I would have to agree with him.  It is no longer the case that you go to church with your neighbors.  We live far away from those in our church because we are so sprawled out over the land.  If you look at the suburban context, there is little to no contact between neighbors.  My CG leader’s wife told me that when they had their daughter she really had to get used to the idea of not always going out.  Instead she now really enjoyed staying home with her daughter; she is starting to understand and enjoy community.

In light of that, I would have to expand the role of the architect.  Earlier, I said that the architect’s main goal would be to create an experience for the visitor or inhabitant.  In addition, it is the architect’s job to study and understand community. We should ask the questions: How do people interact? What is good for society?Where is society failing and how can we design to encourage good community?  This is possibly even more important than creating an experience, or maybe they just go hand in hand.

The struggle in the local church with this new type of sprawled community seems to be reflected in compassion ministry. So how does the church create an atmosphere, an experience that influences community.? Architects must think about these things. Architects truly are the societal thinkers and solutionists.  If we design a church in such a way that it encourages community and compassion ministry, would not the people do these things?  Hopefully they do these things because of Christ, but I also think that architecture can bring encouragement and edification to the church body.

Some interesting things to think about…how does the archictect influence community for the furtherment of society?  Is society’s community in trouble? I think it is, and I think architects should pursue design that reflects community.

Well, this is a question I tend to ask a lot, and one I hear a lot.  The truth of the matter is that there are some books out there that are not doctinally sound.  The doctrine is skewed and dangerous.  Then again, what about reading just so you can know what else is out there?  Do these skewed doctrines harm anything?  Perhaps the question to be asked is “have you read your bible first?”

Driscoll talks about reading and different doctrines that can be found in books from the emerging church and other resources:

Just so you understand….

Driscoll talks about the 4 different “lanes” in the emerging church: Emerging Evangelicals, House Chruch Evangelicals, Emerging Reformers, Emergent Liberals.

This is a great video that will help you understand where churches are at today in our post-modern culture.