Many years ago while I was studying community and
youth work in Birmingham it was pointed out to me that the layout of a room can have a significant impact on the way a group interacts. I have never forgotten this and when I am asked to facilitate
or lead a group I always consider if we can move the chairs and tables or
perhaps even use a different room to
enable better discussion and dialogue to take place.
Over the last couple of years I have become
more conscious that the way our churches are arranged affects the way we worship
and encounter Jesus.
With rows of pews or possibly chairs facing the
front and a pulpit or a stage or platform it encourages a didactic approach and
a focus around one or just a few people at the front. In many ways we have
hardly moved on from a pre reformation model of worship and have simply
swapped observing the celebration of the Mass for didactic preaching.
The thoughts of an
octagonal design of our places of worship to encourage an interactive approach to worship and teaching might
seem to be foreign to our understanding of church design, however I believe
octagonal designs were originally at the heart of our understanding of
faith, community and politics.
Firstly when we look at Jesus’s teaching methods we
find he was often asking questions and entering
into dialogue. Many of these encounters took place in small groups with his
disciples around the meal table, either a picnic on the beach or in someone’s home and the time he spoke in a
synagogue he got thrown out; hardly an endorsement of this format.
If we are to adopt a Missio Dei approach and aim
to discover where God is at work and aim to enable people to discover God for
themselves, this is likely to take place through dialogue and discussion rather
than didactic preaching. In fact as is pointed out in Mathews 18 v 20
“ For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them.” i.e. we encounter the living word or logos in the midst of our
encounters with one another.
It seems to me that it’s unlikely that we will find God
in the midst of us if we are just facing each other’s backs and, by listening to one voice we will be missing out on
the wisdom of the whole body of Christ.
Such an approach is also empowering and
liberating for the people involved and encourages active participation. It can
even work in small rural churches as is demonstrated by the Revd Ann,
Priest in Charge of Askrigg, Stallingbusk, Hawes and Hardraw.
Authors such as Frank Viola and George Barna point
out that the didactic sermon approach owes more to Greek tradition of trained professional speakers who delivered orations for a fee than to the
Christian early tradition of discourse, dialogue and encounter.
A few years ago I was in travelling in Norway and
met up with some friends who were from the Sami people and, after being
introduced to their reindeer, we were invited in to a yurt for refreshments. What struck
me about the yurt was that it had eight sides with a central fire place and had a strong communal/community
feel to the space. In the Sami tradition it
was also a sacred space with the design of the local Church in Røros picking up this theme with an octagonal nave.
This reminded me of the Marsh Lounge at Scargill
House in Wharefdale; which is modelled on the Octagonal Lounge at Lea Abbey,
both rooms being the main locations for teaching sessions, celebration and
entertainment in these two Christian Communities. This is no accident as although both communities have
other rooms and spaces they have found that the octagonal spaces encourage
dialogue and a sense of community which can be transformational. This is lived
out in the Scargill Community strap line: ‘lives shared, lives transformed’.
Some churches including Methodist Churches such as
at Hebden Bridge and Wath make nods in this direction. However their
design was probably so that congregations could be closer to the preacher and so they
could hear their words.
A similar
design formula is used in
Liverpool’s Roman Catholic Metropolitan Cathedral; to enable the congregation
to be as close to the celebration of the Mass as possible.
More recently I have been struck by how the chapter
houses of our great cathedrals and ministers are also octagonal
including: Salisbury, Westminster and York; in fact as
the website of West Minister Abbey points out:
“The octagonal Chapter House, dating from the 1250s
is one of the largest in England. The monks met here every day for prayers and
to read a chapter from the rule of St Benedict and discuss the
day's work.”
The Chapter house at Westminster Abbey was therefore a centre of worship, discussion and encounter for the
Christian Community. This octagonal room was also the birth
place of our democracy as the
King's Great Council first assembled here in 1257, which was effectively
the beginning of the English Parliament.
So the next time you are thinking about re ordering a church building for worship perhaps consider an octagonal arrangement to encourage
discourse, dialogue and encounters with the living God as the people of God
(Laos) gather together for worship.
Andy Ryland January 2013
