Worship Grant Project: November 2006 Archives

At this year's Worship Conference, we will be giving a free book to every participant.

You may choose from one of four different books that will enable you to continue your reflection on the use of visual elements in worship.

combines images of symbols with explanations of their theological and historical background and biblical references a great tool for anyone planning and organizing a worship service features practical downloadable images that can help give a professional look to bulletin covers, banners, and more (CD-ROM included)

offers students and scholars an intriguing, substantive look into the relationship between the church and the world of art descirbes how Israel understood imagery and beauty as reflections of God's perfect order and early Christians used art to teach and inspire notes that the Protestant church abandoned visual arts and imagery during the Reformation in favor of the written word and has only recently begun to reexamine art's role in Christianity and worship affirms this renewal and argues that art, if reflecting the order and wholeness of the world God created, can and should play an important role in modern Christianity

Please Note: This book is scheduled for release on February 15, 2007 by Eerdmans. Should there be a delay in shipping, it may not be available the day of the Conference.

A celebration and exploration of the modern conception of sacred space asserts that modern architecture has heavily influenced the construction of new sacred spaces, producing a new way of building that emphasizes God's coming near to us discusses a proper understanding of God's transcendence and immanence and showing how church architecture has traditionally interpreted these key concepts traces the theological roots of immanence's priority from liberal theology and liturgical innovation to modern architecture addresses the future of church architecture as congregations are buffeted by the twin forces of liturgical change and postmodernism

a concise and thought-provoking guide to assist building committees and their architects to design buildings that work with the ever-changing needs of worship starting from the liturgies with which the people of God mark their pilgrimage (weekly worship, baptism, marriage, funerals), the book explores the depth of meaning in the services and their expression of the community's faith concrete examples of how to create space which supports the "work of the people" as they worship

When visiting various churches to "read" their worship space, you are looking for, “What does this space communicate to me about God, people, and culture/the arts?”

You might ask yourselves these questions:

1. What is the first thing you notice when walking in (atmosphere, items, symbols, etc.)?
2. What is/are the most prominent visual symbol(s) in the worship space (cross, pulpit, screen, font, drums...)?
3. What things are visibly the most valuable to this community (music, preaching, arts, decorations)?
4. Are there any things that appear to be “trying to communicate something” but aren’t actually achieving that?
5. Does the visual layout of the worship space help me engage in specific acts of worship (praying, singing, listening…)?
6. What attributes of God does this worship space seem to emphasize? (transcendence, imminence, love, justice, warm, cold)?
7. Is there anything visually that identifies a certain type (class) of people that are more valuable than another?
8. How does the worship space communicate what actions people do to connect with God (only listening / watching)?
9. What does the worship space say about the community’s value of “stuff” or money?
10. What does the worship space say about the community’s relationship to the culture around it?

Here are some suggested sample questions for your Focus Group Discussions:

Discussion on Readers’ Packet I

1. Do you agree that Worship Space communicates what we believe about God, our church, and the gospel?
2. Have you ever thought much about the value of worship space before?
3. Is it important to have theology inform our decisions about worship space?
4. Was anything you read helpful or insightful to you?
5. Were there any tensions that you noticed? How will we decide on those?
6. What does history teach us about the issues related to worship?
7. How do you think this project will help us generate worship renewal in our church? Is there enough enthusiasm for working on this?

Discussion on Specific Study for Readers’ Packet II

1. Does your specific area of study have anything to do with worship or the theology of worship?
2. Was anything you read helpful or insightful to you when thinking about worship and the corporate gathering of believers?
3. Was there anything from history that can teach us about the issues related to your specific area of worship space?
4. What are the tensions or different viewpoints about your specific topic? What kinds of things cannot co-exist together?
5. How will we decide which viewpoint we as a church should take? Is there any criteria for determining which direction Unity Church would lean?
6. Does taking the time to read about worship space and this specific topic help you engage more fully in worship?