Entering the Holy of Holies
January 22nd, 2007 by Joan
“God of wonders beyond our galaxy, you are holy, holy. The universe declares your majesty, you are holy, holy.”
We sing the words of this song written by Chris Tomlin, and yet, as we enter the sanctuaries of our houses of worship, are we really focusing our hearts on our holy God or are we making plans for lunch in our heads or socializing with the people around us? As we come into the holiest part of our houses of worship, how do we approach the Lord?
The priests we read about in the Old Testament knew how to prepare to enter the Holy of Holies. They prepared themselves by going through a process of sanctification and making sacrifices to the Lord before they set foot in the Holy Place.
Leviticus 19:2 says, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them, ‘Be holy, because I the Lord your God am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15 reiterates this command; “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”As architects, what can we do to remind the people of God that they are entering holy ground and it is time to prepare their hearts to worship and enter into a meeting with the God of the universe? As they approach the doorway to the “Holy of Holies,” how can we design and build this space as a reminder to set aside the things of the world and focus on the holy?”
Let’s remember the Tabernacle of the Old Testament. There was a curtain separating the holy place from the Holy of Holies. Since that curtain was torn when Jesus died on the Cross, should we place a torn curtain at the entrance to our own Holy of Holies? The bride walks on a white runner on her wedding day. Should we lay down a white runner for the Bride of Christ to walk upon? The children of Israel were told to place the commands of the Lord upon their hearts. They were instructed: “Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.” Should we stencil God’s word upon the door frames of our sanctuaries?
What do you think, architects and children of God?
Technorati Tags: God, Church, Architects, Holy, Holies, Tabernacle, Growth, Building, Expansion
My church (small–about 200 seats in a strip mall) is set up in tables. One of the things we realized is that though this is great for community, the “coffee house” vibe doesn’t create that sense of awe. ie) people are comfortable talking or getting up and leaving during worship or the sermon because the visual cues are that it is a community space.
We shifted and developed a huge lobby with tables and a coffee house feel to serve as the community space, then restaged the main worship area to include candles, places to pray (including a prayer wall where we’ve provided strips of parchment people can write on and place in the cracks). We also created a 30 min window before the service where there is quiet music. The worship team, tech crew and pastor do not speak within the space during this window (maybe a smile in greeting, but no words) and everyone else seems to follow along. The doors between the worship center and the lobby remain closed.
By changing, the “cues” we were giving people, Crosspointe changed the sense of worship within the main space without compromising on community. They also gave people the option to choose. Some come in and pray quietly to prepare for worship. Others hang out and chat in the community space. Both needs are met.
One of the cool things about being a small church is that though we long for better, more permanent facilities, it is easy to change things and experiment with staging for worship.
My hope is that if we build in the future, we’ll design very basic permanent structure with tons of storage for staging pieces so that we can change the space to create different experiences.