Aspen Group Blog

Ever since we got the results from the recent CKN/Lifeway research project on the unchurched, we’ve been asking ourselves that question.  In fact, we’ve been asking and hearing a lot of questions like:

• If the unchurched really prefer cathedrals (just Google that phrase and see what you get!), then why are there so many empty cathedrals, here and in Europe?
• Does this mean we need to change our church designs to start building cathedrals again? 
• Does the fact that the unchurched indicated they like the picture of the cathedral better really mean they are more likely to attend a church that looks like that?
• Should we really care what the unchurched think?
• Now that we know the unchurched like to go to restaurants that are quiet enough that they can talk with their friends, should the church try to recreate these “third places” in the church facility?
• And so on…
  

Without claiming to be able to answer these questions completely, what I’ve heard “between the lines” on all this leads me to a few observations as follows:

Why are the cathedrals of Europe empty?  I think most would agree that the design of the facility plays a relatively small role in the overall ministry picture.  Some have argued that buildings don’t matter—after all, the first century Christians met in the catacombs, didn’t they? We could probably get agreement that the way the Gospel is presented—and whether it’s presented in a way that is faithful to Scripture—matters more than the facility design. And isn’t the personal example of Christians living a life transformed by Jesus Christ the best gospel of all?

I would say that all of this is true and that the absence of these essentials overwhelms the issue of facility design.  Yet when we have done research on the topic, we find that facility design does matter (one study found it had an 8% impact on ministry effectiveness) and the CKN/Lifeway study revealed that 54% of the unchurched said the facility design would have some impact on their enjoyment of a visit to church.

So, like Paul, we ought to do everything we can to facilitate (no pun intended) the spreading of the gospel, including being intentional about facility design.

Should we start designing and building cathedrals again?  From some quarters--mostly high church--we hear a resounding “yes!” to this question.   From boomer evangelicals we hear something like “I wouldn’t want to go to church in a cathedral.”

For my part—at this stage of the conversation—it’s not a deep enough question.  I’d like to know more about why the unchurched picked the cathedral over the contemporary model, for instance.  Could it be a matter of authenticity?  No one doubts that a cathedral is what it claims to be.  There’s none of the “we don’t want it to look like a church” that we heard so often in the 90s and early 2000s.  Is it possible that the post-boomers are tired of anything that smacks of insincerity?  As in, “Don’t try to lure me in by hiding the fact that you’re a church.” And we’re seeing a resurgence in interest in liturgy and symbolism ("smells and bells", as one author cleverly put it).  Sounds like it’s all connected to me.

Will they really attend a “cathedral” or do they just like the design?  Hard to say but there may be elements of traditional design that we should think about capturing in the context of a particular church’s DNA.  There’s no question that the design of a space affects how we feel in that space—witness the millions of dollars spent by Starbucks, Panera and the whole lot of themed restaurants.  So we need to at least ponder the question.

Should we even ask (or care) what the unchurched think?  Or put another way, doesn’t that sound like “itching ears” or slick marketing tactics?  Yes, certainly; if it’s a substitute for the genuine gospel, and the example of faithful believers living out their faith.  But given those are present (and we should examine ourselves on this), it seems reasonable to at least find out what we may be (unintentionally or intentionally) doing that inhibits our “not yet Christian” (credit Alan Hirsch for this delightful improvement on “unchurched”) friends from coming to church with us.

Should we try to design churches with space that allows the unchurched to connect with their friends?  I suppose if we (Christians) are their friends, the answer is yes.  But before we start thinking that putting a café in our churches will automatically make us more attractive to the unchurched—when we find that most such facilities tend to serve the existing body for the most part—we should examine the whole missional conversation.  Perhaps the answer is for churches to equip the saints to go out and make friends of the unchurched and meet them in the quiet-enough-to-talk restaurants or other spaces? This thought is certainly gaining momentum through people like Randy Frazee, Alan Hirsch, Hugh Halter and others.

For more pondering of these issues check out Ed Bahler’s blog, especially the Evolving Culture posts.