From
Living Theology in the Metropolitan Chicago Synod
Evangelical Lutheran Church In America
Volume 1, Number 2
Lent 1996
Worship and Evangelism
Richard
Carl Kalb
During
the question and answer period of a recent congregational meeting which was
called for the purpose of determining the will of the membership regarding fund
raising for a church building expansion project, one member voiced concern over
some aspects of the design proposal. The member said, among other things, that
the room designated as narthex was "basically wasted space.”
Over
the years I have developed a strong aversion to the term "wasted
space" and regularly cringe at its use. This is because those with a
limited appreciation of the nature of architecture often use this term to
demean high ceiling, large volume spaces, or spaces which are generously
proportioned in response to aesthetic and spirit elevating criteria rather than
functional requirements alone. I assure you, the Chartres Cathedral does not
have any "wasted space" in it.
In
this instance the speaker was revealing a fundamental lack of understanding of
this room's deep significance to the life of the congregation--from the
perspective of ministry and the perspective of the symbolic.
Ministry
is of course performed by people. Church buildings are simply instruments for
ministry; tools for the delivery of ministry. But while this is true, it is
also true that buildings and their individual spaces also carry meaning beyond
their basic functional purposes. It has been said that we shape our buildings,
and thereafter they shape us.
In a
sermon preached on the occasion of the installation of the current president of
the Board of Church Extension of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ),
the president of that denomination, Dr. Richard L. Hamm, said that the
significance of church buildings is lodged in their speaking "of the
lasting quality of the values and truth which the institutions they house
represent;" and that they should be "incarnational manifestations of
their mission." The church buildings we create, then, do more than provide
basic shelter; how they are fashioned and the choices we make as we shape them
point very directly to whom we are as the Church.
Much
as been written about the theological imperatives which come into play when
giving shape to the spaces in our church buildings which are provided for the
liturgy--the spaces designated and designed to accommodate the action of the
assembled people of God in Word and Sacrament ministry. The 1987 Lutheran
Church in America publication Where We
Worship, states that the worship space has at its heart the "gathered
people" of God--the "baptized assembly;" and is "at once
assembly room, eucharistic room, baptismal room, and preaching room." The
literature on ecclesiastical architecture then deals primarily with how to
manifest in authentic architectural form the relationship between the assembly
and the centers of liturgical action.
The
same literature has comparatively little to say about the full significance of
the narthex. It deals only with the narthex as a companion or attendant space
to the worship room--a place for gathering and prefatory interaction in
anticipation of the worship event.
I
myself have come to refer to the narthex as the second most important room in
the church building. The word narthex itself is today increasingly inadequate
to fully convey the potential contribution of this room to the life of the
congregation. While the term is perhaps limiting, the historical origin of this
room does suggest a connection to its current development. The narthex was a
western porch of the basilica, the public building type which was adopted for
early Christian use. This porch was used to hold penitents, catechumens and
others who, after the fashion of the then contemporary practice, required
accommodation outside of the place of the liturgy.
While
these early distinctions between the use and accessibilities of spaces no
longer provide instruction of any applicable relevance, they do serve to remind
us that the proclamation of the Gospel has many foci and, by extension, suggest
that different spatial "tools" may be variously appropriate.
Today
the narthex is growing in importance as it takes on broader multiple functions
which expand its public character to include dimensions beyond that of
attendant gathering space to the place of worship.
Recently
a prominent and acknowledged authority on church growth attended the dedication
of an addition to a church building which included the construction of a new
worship room and narthex. When I learned that he had made several favorable
comments about the design of the narthex I telephoned him to see what insights
I might glean from his observations. Having caught him unexpectedly and perhaps
at a bad time, our conversation was brief. In response to my probes he simply
said "Its a big room. A lot of ministry happens there".
Ministry
is action performed for and with the people of God and performed for and with
those outside the community of faith. Action requires a place to unfold. The locus of much, though not all, of a
congregation's action in ministry is the church building. The narthex seems to
be becoming--exclusive of the place set aside for the liturgy--the locus of the
public face of Christian action.
Considered
in this light the significance of the narthex carries a decidedly evangelistic
edge. It is for member and visitor the
place of invitation, first impression, reception, and hospitality. It should be
generous and open in its dimension and public in its character.
In
contemporary ministry the narthex in the service of evangelism has limitless
potential. It can become the place of distribution for the food pantry, the
gathering place for the weekly seniors meeting, the place of registration for
the daycare or preschool program, the meeting place for the local ministerium,
the "town hall" for the community forum. Each encounter is an
opportunity to witness and proclaim the Gospel in action.
The
narthex, then, as a principal unit of the church building harbors the potential
to become an "incarnational manifestation" of what we value and
believe as Christians. If we wish to practice authentic discipleship we cannot,
in truth, separate or isolate who we are as the body of Christ from the ways in
which we present ourselves to others. This means the buildings which serve our
communities need to authentically reflect their mission and ministry. They need
to be invitational. They need to be generous and gracious in their hospitality.
They need unmistakably to reflect and nurture the action of ministry. They
need, I believe, a focal place to play out Christian witness--a narthex.
Richard
Carl Kalb
Cone • Kalb • Wunderlick, P.C.
Member, Bethel (Humboldt Blvd.), Chicago