TheMinistryCafe

Some ideas seem to be constantly regurgitated, like phony e-mails about the FCC taking all religious broadcasters off the air, or a state enacting a month of speed traps to increase revenues. People forward this information on without really considering the validity of what’s being reported, accepting and spreading inaccurate conclusions. Information similarly spread – which keeps coming to me from various sources has to do with “preferred architectural styles of the unchurched”.  A pastor-friend forwarded to me again this past week, having viewed it on-line in Leadership Journal. This ‘study’ was commissioned by the Cornerstone Knowledge Network and conducted by LifeWay Research. The ‘Cornerstone Knowledge Network’ is a design-build contractor’s organization, that puts on workshops for church leaders about church construction that is geared to selling their services. While I do not think the design-build approach is the best approach for most churches, the purpose of this entry is not to argue this point, but to take issue with the research and conclusions. Reportedly, the researchers showed pictures of four different styles of church buildings to unchurched adults. The styles included a gothic cathedral, a traditional American white-steepled  building and two more contemporary looking buildings. The unchurched were reported to prefer the gothic cathedral by a two to one margin over the other styles, with the two contemporary buildings coming in last. The conclusion? If you want to attract the unchurched, then build gothic?? I see a problem with such a conclusion, but more so the approach. It is like asking someone who is not interested in baseball what style of stadium they prefer; a historic one like Yankees Stadium, or a dome or a new one like Citizen’s Bank Park. They can give you an opinion based on appearance, but that does not mean it would make a difference such that they would then go to a baseball game. The question in the study would have been more beneficial to suggest architectural style if it was posed as: “if you were looking for a church to attend, would you feel more compelled to go to one of these based on appearance?”  As it is, I don’t think there is any more value in the study than asking a someone who doesn’t eat fish “what’s the best sushi restaurant in town?”