Hi pigeons!
I come to you with a question about church aesthetics! My folks and I have been talking about building design, thinking about beautifying our Parish Hall for summer worship (our first time using that space because it’s air-conditioned, and what a pleasure!), and considering a consistent design concept for church communications.
I have studied and thought about the matter for a long time and I am willing to venture some opinions. They are:
1. The church should not contribute to the information overload all of us suffer from these days;
2. Various and disparate fliers and posters and displays communicate that the congregation is not one entity but several competing sub-groups meeting in one shared space;
3. Visual clutter is spiritually distressing;
4. Beauty and order in the entire building matters just as much as sanctuary aesthetics and should be considered as carefully and attended to as thoughtfully;
5. If we would not tape and thumbtack things to the walls and doors of our own homes, we ought not do that to our churches;
6. It is very powerful when an organization creates a consistent design language throughout all its communications, including digital resources. The corporate name for this is branding.
Have you done any of this work in your own religious organizations? I have done some and am really interested in doing more. I would like to hear your stories of process, staffing, budgeting, and how you enlisted members to be part of the effort.
I would also very much like to know if any of you have moved away from printed orders of worship. We have a generic one in the summer and the freedom and creativity it allows is AMAZING.
Do you think worshipers need a printed order of service? Is it central to the worshiping experience? Is it not sufficient to have the elements listed and announce the readings and musical selections?
Our Order of Service rigamarole every week is just nuts. Minister-Music Director-Director of Religious Education – Administrator all have to be in touch multiple times to submit information, review and submit corrections and changes. Why are we wasting our time with this?
Talk to me!
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