RE-PITCHING THE TENT, a book review
Where do we come from?
Who are we?
Where do we go from here?
The three sections provide a framework suitable for use as three 'terms' of study by a Christian community wishing to undertake and long and careful reappraisal of its communal life in both worship and mission, before drawing up a scheme to alter and improve its buildings to better meet its needs and proclaim its message.
As I read the writings, what became obvious was not merely Giles' critique of aged Church buildings foundering in architectural obsolescence, but the underlying theological discussion strongly implying an inflexible tradition of Christian thinking also foundering in orthodoxical obsolescence.
The following excerpts from Giles' first chapter are sufficient to describe the promise of addressing thoroughly the issues introduced in the opening chapter both from the point of spatial design and layout as well as the point of laying out doctrine and theology more effectively in this 3rd Christian millennium.
RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM
"The fossilization of worship spaces is not confined to ancient buildings nor to England. Faith communities in the United States are equally prone to this disease .... And in immanent danger of drowning in varnish.
The tendency to live with at least one foot in the past is not defined merely by the lack of 'mod cons' - of running hot and cold water, toilets and kitchens and catering facilities - but by the failure to realize that a Christian community at the outset of the 3rd millennium will require a different set of tools from those available 100 years ago if it is to do the work of God in the drastically changed context of a pluralist society.
Resting content with what previous generations experienced - generations who lived on a different planet as far as understanding of the Church and the world are concerned - reveals five worrying tendencies:
(a) Marginalization; at a time of unceasing change and modernization in all spheres, when the adaptation and refurbishment of outdated buildings is a universal practice, the Church is content to be removed from the mainstream. This vice of stagnation is often dressed up as the virtue of 'creating an oasis of stability in a changing world', but the last dodo said much the same thing.
(b) Eccentricity; because rapid change is the common daily experience of almost every individual in today's world, a false note is struck by any Christian community that eschews change in its own built environment. The honest enquirer
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