Christ Church Building
Introduction
The shape and style of church buildings has always reflected theology. Whether it is has been the use of screens to separate the 'priest' from the people reflecting a theology of the separation of holy mysteries from ordinary people or the use of straight pews reflecting a theology of sitting and listening in rows, buildings are theology in stone.
The Christ Church building reflects a Victorian theology and a set of values deeply influenced by Victoriana. The doors and entrances are narrow which were not just a heat saving device. No one needed to see inside because everyone knew what was going on. It wasn't a mystery and most people would have had at least some experience and knowledge of what went on.
The large airy interior with rows and rows of pews also reflect the Victorian method of living and learning. You learnt in straight rows and weren't expected or encouraged to interact with fellow-worshippers. Christianity was private and individualistic. The long aisles allowed for processing and reflected the pomp and formality of the culture. Churches didn't need space or seating flexibility to get to know others in the church, because you already knew them from the local community.
The impressive Gothic exterior also pointed to a lofty, visual expression of God's majesty expressed through architecture which was by and large universally understood even if not personally accepted. When it was built in 1841 the Christ Church building would have freshly spoken into people's lives of the God being worshipped. It didn't matter that the first thing unbelievers knew about Christianity was a huge spire or a grand building or pews or robed choirs or formal worship - it was not then culturally alien. Indeed it was still informative.
This near-universal understanding existed for several decades afterwards and well into the 20th century. No doubt modern historians hotly debate the cultural forces, events and philosophies which have shattered this universal understanding. What is not in doubt is that by the end of the 20th century things couldn't have been more different. The first decade of the 21st century has already accelerated this vast sea-change from the 19th century and these forces of change won't subside.
Changes in the Christ Church building
Theological conviction has brought several alterations over the years. The changes in the chancel were inspired by the conviction that the style of services on Sunday needed to be flexible, with the possibility of more informality. It wasn't an attempt to throw out more traditional services but to give the possibility of a variety of styles which would suit different congregations and occasions.
The foyer was inspired by the conviction that Christianity is highly relational. The New Testament is adamant that we belong to one another and the foyer was designed to enable a proper welcome for people and also to give a gathering place and a communication point.
Perhaps the biggest change to the Christ Church building has been the crypt. The crypt was an even bolder step towards moving Christ Church's style to being more relational with the possibility of having coffee, eating together, learning together and so much more. In fact the variety of activities that now happen every week in the crypt is quite staggering. There is a preschool, two big toddler groups, many courses, parties, receptions, an increasing number of children's groups, a community centre, lunches, suppers etc. There are many weeks where hundreds of people go into the crypt.
Theology and Vision
The vision for Christ Church arises out of theological conviction. The reason that Belonging, Growing and Going have been chosen to express our vision is because, not only are they core elements of New Testament teaching on being the people of God, but they are also particular challenges for churches like Christ Church which are on the larger side.
I won't fully rehearse the vision but here is a summary:
Belonging: Enabling Christians to belong to a community of believers. The New Testament is quite clear that it is through belonging to each other as brothers and sisters that we learn to live the Christian life. This is very different to just attending a service or meeting. The way to belong to a local church is to know how your gifts are being used by God to build up the church. (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Growing: Encouraging the church family to grow spiritually through the teaching and application of God's Word. This is concentrating on how we actually grow to become more like Jesus. The ultimate aim for being the church is to become more like Jesus and our life together should enable this to happen. (Colossians 1:28).
Going: Equipping disciples to go and initiate mission in their part of the harvest field. We are beginning a review of our mission and evangelism so that we can set out a clear strategy of what mission should look like in a church like Christ Church. We are a 'Minster' type of church which gives our mission a particular shape. The chief characteristic of a Minster church is that mission is done at the end of each of the spokes which emanate from it.
These three elements to the vision must be served by the infrastructure we have which includes our leadership structure, decision making processes and .... our buildings.
Serving the Vision
The following discussion is purely to sketch out ideas and does not rest on any architectural knowledge! It also doesn't discuss some obvious detail that will need dealing with like storage space, lighting, heating etc etc.
Belonging:
Belonging is about using our gifts and serving each other. That is how we grow in Christ and how the Church grows in Christ-likeness. In many ways this element serves the next two but there are many 'informal' gifts which our building hinders. By informal I don't mean they are somehow inferior. Quite the opposite. It is more that they don't have a formal structure. For instance we don't have a Minister of Encouragement or a Minister of Mercy - both vital gifts. Belonging is relational as well as functional and we all can see people are hungry for being able to be more relational together.
Imagine having the ability to eat more easily with each other and linger together in the context of learning and training. Christ Church is really quite rare in not offering coffee before or after all its services. Yet, it is these times outside the 'formal' parts of our gatherings, where so often the Holy Spirit works through many ministers of encouragement and mercy. It is the way we are able to do things that inspires and bring out these gifts which build up the body of Christ. Also by not having such facilities I firmly believe it suppresses the spontaneous and other service gifts. The needs of the body are not visible and usually only heard about in a notice.
A part of belonging is also our admin gifts and the work of the office which serves the ministry. We may be able to create quite a bit of space on the north side of the church by putting in another floor and having offices there, even the main one. This will make the office a presence in the actual complex which has advantages in many ways (and theologically strong) but perhaps has one or two issues as well. Would the bookstall be better placed 'upstairs' too so that there is the maximum space downstairs for the new facility described below? Creating space is an important aim.
Having more space will also greatly increase our ability to communicate well and more creatively and even electronically with (tasteful) screens and interactive software.
Growing:
A church that is growing is a church that is learning. Our facilities reflect a Victorian approach to learning - static straight rows. In our culture people learn by listening, yes, but also through discussion, questioning, watching, interacting and having a rich variety of methods which serve the learning.
By removing the pews and replacing them with a seating system and with the possibility of also having tables, the large space we have immediately becomes very flexible. Seating systems are increasingly sophisticated now and decreasingly labour-intensive.
Possibilities immediately open up. More small groups can easily be done centrally and relationally. A trend that is growing amongst 20's and 30's is finding going to homes more of a barrier. They still want relational learning but are not so comfortably in homes. By having 'Home' Groups taught from the front for 20 mins with a meal and then having table work for follow up, a momentum will be created that will give each group a relational-learning dynamic. It is from this basis that the life of each group grows. I think that quality issues are also helped by this dynamic too.
Training becomes much easier for the same reason and would enable Christ Church to more easily host conferences and run our own. This teaching-from-the-front then learning/responding in groups with meals etc is a model I favour enormously.
Being more radical, it could be that a re-ordered Christ Church building would enable us to 'plant' Tues, Weds and Thurs congregations for learning and growing, leaving Sundays for being much more intentional about the 'outsider'/apologetics, café church, mission etc ...... or, of course, the other way round!
At the moment the main area of the church is used for about 10-12 hours a week which is extraordinary for one of the largest indoor spaces in Clifton, and perhaps in north Bristol.
Going:
Perhaps the biggest part of the reordering which could be done would serve all three elements but particularly the 'going'.
A closed building is a mystery. It would be so significant to open up the look of Christ Church with glass - and lots of it. Architects are very skilled in the tasteful use of glass and natural light. It would be brilliant to be able to build out to Clifton Park with a glass dominated frontage and even square off the main porch. A welcome/café area could be created and as much space as possible must be created for this. With the pressure taken off the Foyer, it could be redesigned to work together with this new feature.
This would do a number of things. It would visually and psychologically open up the building. Narrow doors and entrances would be replaced by light, more familiarity and an architectural welcome. People would be able to see in. It would be easier to 'drop' in, invite people for something informal and be generally more accessible. Taking the whole complex together, it would be much easier to plant new congregations and experiment with different outreach groups.
It may seem strange to include reordering the church building in 'going' but whilst we are all missioners at the end of the spokes, we need a central hub that serves us in that mission, providing a flexible venue for quality central evangelistic events and courses. Given the right reordering, our building can be a servant of our going.
Conclusion
Doing nothing isn't really an option. At the very least, we ought to be improving our toilet facilities (for both pre-school and adults), installing baby-changing facilities (for Sundays and toddler groups), improving disabled access (to comply with the disability discrimination act) etc. But we have an opportunity to do something far bolder, stemming not merely from a response to growing need and legislation, but overflowing from and shaped by our vision for Christ Church which will bring us into the 21st century.
This hopefully starts the ball rolling. At the deeper level it is about taking the heritage which previous generations have handed down to us and reordering this gift in the way that the Christian Church now sees is the best way to fulfil the mission which Jesus has given the church for all time. Whatever we do it will be a gift to the next few generations and is not just for us. Our sacrifice will be so that for the next few decades they won't need to but have a facility which will also serve their ministry and mission as well.