Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Church Has Sprung
The current issue of Christianity Today has a full-page ad for Sprung Instant Structures (www.sprung.com), a provider of temporary aluminum domes for businesses, churches, and military bases. The CT ad has a testimonial from Saddleback Church that says, “The Sprung Structures at Saddleback Church continue to be valuable tools towards the growth of the church. We put great value on flexibility in our facilities and Sprung Structures provide the kind of flexibility a growing church needs.”
(It’s not clear whether Saddleback uses these structures for worship space; the ad does show a worship space inside a temporary dome without identifying it; the website has the picture identified as New Life Church in Colorado Springs.)
I’m torn about the use of these structures for worship. On the one hand, the aesthetics are weak and the spartan surroundings may not nourish a sense of immanence. On the other hand, how can you not appreciate the obvious analogues to the Old Testament tabernacle?
Time for Mark Torgerson to add a new chapter to his forthcoming CICW book on church architecture, An Architecture of Immanence.
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