How The Architectural Setting For Worship Forms Our Faith

Every liturgical space reflects the theological commitments of its designers. Every time a liturgical space is used, those ideals shape the experience of those who worship within it. Space for worship must be designed with concern for the theological and liturgical commitments of a given worshiping community. In the valley of the Mohawk River in upstate New York stand two churches built just before the Revolutionary War. Both were built by German immigrants, both were built with the same local stone. But there the similarities end. Reformed Christians built the Fort Herkimer Church, while Lutherans erected the Palatine Bridge Church. The buildings show how far apart in faith their builders had grown in the two hundred years since the Reformation. The Fort Herkimer Church is a preaching church par excellence. Every element in the building focuses on the pulpit, standing about twelve feet high with an elegant sounding board over it. No building is a better witness to the sovereign Wo…