LET US STOP RENOVATING CHURCH BUILDINGS AND RENOVATE CHURCH AS A PEOPLE

ABSTRACT: Worship offered by a Christian community is the sole reason why a church building exists. The building is not an end itself but a means to an end. It is the offering of worship to God manifest in Jesus Christ. The error often made is the misunderstanding that everything about church building must be shaped by its function as the place where Christians worship. The method is to begin with worship, reviewing those things that every Christian assembly does when it comes together. Then we proceed to show how suitable space can enhance these activities and how improper space can impede them. Our purpose is to encourage congregations to examine their own life together and to use this as their point of departure. Then they will be prepared to consider how well the building they have, or the building they project will serve that worship. The people and their worship are primary. The church building or architecture is meant to serve that worship, and not to be a monument to itself. Unless we keep emphasising on the people and their worship, a building can get out of hand and acquire an identity that may not match that of the community it is intended to serve. KEYWORDS: Church, Building, Architecture, Renovation, Worship, Assembly, Congregation.