Here is the Church, Here is the Steeple...
When I was a child, my Grandma taught me a little hand-game: "Here is the church; here is the steeple; Open the door and see all the people." What is the church? Is it a building? Hopefully, most of us would say, "The church is people - those who are united to Jesus." Nevertheless, is there any value to a building? Any value to a visual display in the community - a steeple or a bell tower visible for miles around?
The congregation I serve, Evergreen, has a building on a busy corner in our community - 10,000 cars buzzing by daily. There is no steeple, cross or bell tower on the exterior of our building. Last week I had to leave my car at the dealership for an overdue service. The shuttle driver kindly drove me to the church site and as we arrived to the site, said, "Even though I have lived here all my life, and drive through this intersection many times weekly, I never knew that this was a church." I said, "Have you never read our sign? It reads, 'Evergreen Church.'" He said, "I've never seen the sign." Our city code allows us one sign, maximum 6x4' and so I conceded that a careful driver may have never seen it.
There is a congregation in our community that is growing numerically like wildfire. Its facilities are in a light industrial building hidden in the back of a complex only visible to the freight train engineers who rumble past every fifteen minutes. There is no cross, steeple or bell tower on the building. The interior of this church building tempts me to break the 10th Commandment, but the exterior is hardly visible. This church does so much good in our community. But the thousands participating are all Christians. The growth of this congregation is largely due to the shifting number of Christians, looking for the "hip" church in town.
What about all of the people, estranged from the church, stuck in traffic, slowly moving through the intersection where the congregation I serve is planted? My shuttle driver said, "I haven't gone to church in years." While he is a careful driver, keeping his eyes on the traffic, not a few driving past our church site, have seen our sign, which supplies our worship times and our website, and they have visited. A good number have embraced the gospel and joined our congregation. How many more would stumble into our worship if we affixed a cross to the peak of our roof, more visible than our sign?
In Oregon, Christians deeply feel their minority status. The church is largely hidden from plain sight. Few drive through the Portland metro and conclude that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is powerfully present and central. What would be the result of congregations spending self-sacrificial dollars to make the church visible? What would be the result of congregations not only developing functional sites but rather, beautiful and functional sites? I suggest that an aesthetically pleasing building that is also functional, open to the larger community is the strategic ideal.
A beautiful church building that is nearly empty is not ideal. But neither is a hidden away building full of third generation Christians. The ideal is a visible and beautiful edifice full of people, not only Christian but also non-Christian, drawn to the open welcome of the followers of Jesus, and thus to the welcome of Jesus himself. But of course, such an ideal costs extra money. A church building of sufficient elevation, seen for several miles out, costs more than light industrial space. A cross on the roof, is a little, but added expense. A bell tower or spire is an extra cost that does not provide usable space for a recovery group or a child care service for young mothers studying the Bible over coffee.
It is inescapable. Civilization, culture, society values institution and architecture. A beautiful bridge is a tribute to a burgeoning civic community. A steel and glass high rise is a visible and lasting statement to a burgeoning economy. A cathedral is a powerful proclamation to the community of a thriving church sold-out to the one, true God, whose kingdom is the only establishment that ushers us from this world into the eternal world of the future.