Sacred Space
In my Having Fun in Church post from a couple of weeks ago, Patti left the following comment that has been gnawing at my brain for the past few days –
I think fun is great for church. I also think that activities like roller skating and rodeos (a big church in Nashville had a rodeo in church for July 4) don’t belong in the sanctuary. Hold them in the gym, the grounds, the activity center, the parking lot–maybe even in lieu of “regular” services sometimes, but not in the sanctuary. Keep this place apart for the decorum and solemnity that some activates need, i.e. communion, weddings, christenings, confirmations, funerals/memorial services, etc. Individual, personal introspective reflection is needed for enlightenment to occur.
I’ll be honest, I flat out disagree with her perspective, but I really appreciated the comment because of how it illustrates different conceptions of what the purpose of church is.
I addressed this topic of sacred space in church a few years ago (Sacred Space and Revolving Christmas Trees), but I think my perspective has develop even since then. My perspective has always been influenced by my “low church” experience, but I believe my understanding of what is sacred has become even more ecumenical over time. I’ve stopped seeing the sacred as a place I go to worship God, but as the place where God shows up in a variety of ways.
As a child I attended a large Bible church that while it had a sanctuary, I was never allowed to enter it. I spent my time in the children’s building far away from the worshiping adults. After moving to Austin, our church met in a sanctuary with moveable chairs. The church used to meet in a used car dealership, and since building a sanctuary, used it for not only worship, but also cleared it out for children’s and youth events or set it up with tables for all church meals. That particular church now has a state of the art stadium as its sanctuary. I later was on staff at a stereotypical iconoclastic Baptist church for awhile, where the sanctuary was painted stark white with no adornments to potentially distract us from the word of the Lord. Since then I’ve attended churches that have met in school cafeterias, YMCA karate rooms, a community center for mentally handicapped adults, a warehouse, and my living room.
This experience has ingrained in me the conviction that the building is simply a gathering place for the body of Christ to meet and be the church together. When you meet in a house church it is impossible to keep the sanctuary set apart for “the decorum and solemnity” of a few activities. But we were no less the church and no less able to worship God because we sat on the same couches on Sunday morning that my husband and I had snuggled together on to watch a movie the night before. The space wasn’t sacred because it was set apart to be used once a week, it was sacred because the body of Christ gathered there to support each other and worship God. Same thing with the church we currently attend. We are Journey Imperfect Faith Community that gathers at the Warehouse. The Warehouse is not Journey. Our “sanctuary” is our living room, where we worship, share meals, have movie and board game nights, hold meetings, host recovery groups, and simply be the church with each other. Personal introspective reflection and enlightenment occurs there, as does fun, and lament, and community.
I honestly have a hard time fully entering into worship in sanctuaries whose sole function is to be a sacred and holy space. I struggle with justifying such a waste of resources – not only for creating an ornate expensive structure to begin with, but for the clinging so tightly to a space that gets used once or twice a week. How is that good stewardship? How does that allow us to serve God and each other? How does that allow us to be the body of Christ? For me, setting apart a space as sacred flies in the face of all that Christ was. He tore the curtain in the temple, he told us to worship him in spirit and truth. He didn’t confine himself to the trappings of a building or argue that the temple should stop being the community hub that it was in favor of it only being a place of worship. He taught that all of life is sacred, and that we have opportunities to serve and worship in all aspects of life.
I get that there are Christian traditions that value a set-apart sacred space (and I am sure I will have an interesting time wrestling with this as I enter an Episcopal seminary this fall). And I fully get how our environment can influence or shape a worship experience. But I have a hard time limiting the sacred to just that which is solemn or full of decorum. God is far bigger than that. I don’t want to shut out who God made us to be as his followers just because I only want to affirm one aspect of who God is. Places become sacred because we seek God there. How that happens is a mystery and is as multifaceted and diverse as God herself. I believe we can encounter God in so-called sanctuaries in worship and in meals together, in the laughter of children and in the struggles of a small group. The sacred permeates it all.
julieclawson(at)gmail(dot)com 
Julie, I may have disagreed with you on a few posts over the years, but on this one I am in 100% agreement. Very well written. The place is not and never has been “the church.” We may be in the minority in believing that, but it is an accurate position.
I Love Your blog and I am glad to have the connecting updates through twitter…
I don’t remember which blog I was reading when I clicked on the link they posted to connect to yours… but I am blessed and happy I “happened” upon it! Love your heart and mind on matters- agreeing or not =)
You are blessed to know that God is everywhere and in everything. You are right; the Church is not a building but the people, the body of Christ at work in the world today.
However, I believe sacred spaces are very important to Christianity. I also believe those spaces should be reserved solely for the worship of God.
While mature Christians know that God is everywhere and always with them, there are those who do not have a relationship with God and think they are alone in this world. It is important that there is a place, a sanctuary, these people can go and KNOW God is there. Troubled and searching people need something they can relate to physically, and a sanctuary is the perfect answer.
I have been in old church buildings, as I’m sure you have as well, and could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit in that space. I believe that exist not because God has made that space Holy but because Christians have trusted and upheld that as a sacred and holy space. Their prayers, their tears, their celebrations of baptism, marriage, and funerals give meaning to the sacred space.
Sacred places are important for non-believers (and sometimes believers with doubts & fears) simply because they can be assured God is there and He will meet them there. As I write this and think about the issue I have realized that Christians are almost being selfish when they consider sanctuaries merely as places to worship. Sacred spaces are an important part of evangelism and reaching out to the world.
Julie, I agree with you.
Patti, I agree with you too.
For the majority of the past decade, I have worked at a big company who would dress business casual, or casual, or anything that is not indecent depending on the gathering. A nearly friend, would wear a sport coat to work every day and always seemed out of place in the culture. There are a lot of reasons he does that, but the reason he really does it is to (in his words) get up for the game. I feel empowered in flip flops and shorts. He only gets serious about his pursuit (as materialistic as it is, but that is not the point), when he feels adequately dressed.
Dave
Julie,
great text. I see this exactly the same. Isn’t the need for a certain sacred space a residue of the performance-based religion that Jesus put away with? I can understand that someone might feel the need for such a thing, because it’s the common religious thing to do: You can only meet god if you go to a place he is supposed to dwell, like you can only please god if you offer a scarifice. I think there’s great freedom in the realisation that none of this is required with Jesus.
I do think though that there can be things like “thin places” (like in the Celtic spirituality) where it’s easier to connect with God. But that is different for each person, of course, and there’s no need to erect a cathedral if you find one. I found one in the back office of a Café where I volunteer.
beautiful insights. “the container” is a big deal and not; the physical space is a big deal and not; the rituals are a big deal or not. for me, it’s alllllll about the intention. what is the juice/energy/hope/model/ethos/purpose (stated or understood) for this physical space? and then, let it roll. or roller skate.
Some churches (not the building, the people) don’t have a choice but to use the building for many purposes. It’s a luxury of Western churches to have that “sacred space” mentality. I worship in a poor country, in an even poorer neighborhood than the average. The building is just a building, for weddings, services, meetings, and anything that requires shelter! And the shelter is a term I would use loosely since we have open spaces that never can be closed!
The services are great! Because God dwells in our praises, and in our united prayers. Maybe US churches and richer congregations ought to look at the developing world as a model.
I changed my link as my link in the above comment is broken.
Laurie – I was just thinking the same thing. The whole idea that a church building should be devoted to only solemn worship is a VERY wealthy Western idea. It assumes that indigenous forms of worship are improper and that wealth/status are more important than community. I feel the same way about the whole dressing up thing DRT mentioned – that whole discussion only matters if you are wealthy to begin with with the resources to dress nicely to feel good about yourself. I am very uneasy with a discussion that defines worship in ways that implies that God is only present in rich western churches that have solemn and decorous worship (read liturgy). That isn’t the God I worship.
This is a hard one for me, because I fall on both sides of the issue. I find in myself an ever-increasing passion for seeing the sacred in all aspects of my life, in all times and places, and learning anew every day that God shows up, unbounded, all over the place. And so my very life becomes an act of worship, in every time and place and moment.
At the same time, I am, by personality, a person who craves set-apart sacred space as well. If I can have a favorite chair that is nearly-exclusively used as my reading chair, and if I have a favorite window that is nearly-exclusively used as my place to drink coffee and look out at the yard in the mornings, and if I have a dedicated drawer in my desk where I keep all of my prayer books and journals, then why not also crave a set-apart sacred space in the church in which to enact corporate worship?
I agree that the concept of a building large enough to have a large, relatively-unused worship space does hint at wealthy Westernism, and I’m not quite sure how to reconcile that in my mind. And there are plenty of places and ways to worship that don’t require a dedicated space (including all sorts of varieties of “liturgy”).
I guess I don’t have much of an answer here, except to say that I live in myself the reality of seeing worship in all times and places, while still feeling drawn to set-aside space (for worship or other tasks in life).
Thinking of Sacred space brings to mind sacred time and sacred thoughts. Is it so easy to divide the worlds into sacred and non-sacred?
The Celts speak of ‘thin space’ where the veil between this world and the spirit world is ‘thin’. A lofty mountain, a simple brook, a quiet meadow, the seashore, a still pond, a quiet sanctuary, Christmas eve candle-lit Silent Night. We have all been in these sacred place-time-thoughts. What if the sacred was carried within us, the sacred image of the living God present in all places-times-thoughts? Our life as living prayers. Sacred place-time-prayer.
I am astounded when I read of attitudes such as Pastor Mack’s. I don’t know what tradition that his thinking comes from. I could never be a part of any congregation where this was the prevailing attitude. I want to participate in a church where worship is a time when I can be real.
PS. For me, sacred space is where I casn be the most real even when that might be throwing balls around.
First time reader. I was with you for a while. Your discussion of sacred space seemed to be about differences in ways to experience God, and an appreciation for an expansion of understanding the nature of sacred spaces. And then, there is this statement: “setting apart a space as sacred flies in the face of all that Christ was.” I think you may have overreached there, and in the process (1) Misconstrued Jesus’ relationship with the Temple, and (2)spoken very judgmentally of the practice of people who choose to set aside a place that is sanctuary and find that choice very meaningful. Not the only place where they meet God but a place set aside where, with intent, they meet God.
As for the whole dressing up thing, it feels more cultural to me than some grandiose expression of wealth. I grew up in the 50s and 60s. We weren’t rich by any means, but we dressed up to go to church because it was what everyone else did. We had a set, usually one, of Sunday clothes, because it was an expression of honor, respect, and reverence for going to church. Probably not an meaningful expression since it seems no longer be practiced.
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