Genesis-Gods starting point was beauty- creation itself. And God rooted himself to this earth in comunity with human beings.
Our church plant bounced around in Chicago primarily due to zoning laws. We eventually bought an old church, beautiful sanctuary, and laid down roots in a community. And everything changed. Gods people are sojourners through time but rooted in space.
I can’t help but think that most churches pessimistic eschatology has a role to play in this. Why plant roots if we’re in the last days? The cathedrals prove that the church hasn’t always had this toxic mindset.
“Beauty matters. It’s not a secondary concern or an optional extra…the Church has a unique opportunity to offer what only it can: a glimpse of the divine through spaces, worship, and practices that reflect God’s truth, goodness, and beauty.”
Man, this whole paragraph just resonated in me on a gut level. Even just affirming those first two words, “beauty matters,” as a church is already a transformative step.
Something I learned recently from studying C.S. Lewis is that Truth, Goodness, and Beauty have its ontological order we are familiar with but also a *psychological* order: Beauty, Goodness, Truth—how beholders are drawn into Being Himself.
If you ever have the time, check out my first published post ever on beauty! I’d love to hear your thoughts. I build a theological aesthetic and apologetic for objective beauty and refute the subjective notions of beauty such as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I use a lot of Lewis’ thoughts as my foundation. It would honestly mean so much if you checked it out!
It seems like everywhere I turn, someone is writing about the Transcendentals - and I'm loving it.
Josh, I love what you said about what it means "to plant deeper rather than wider." My heart is to see people (especially young generations) in the Church embrace a robust and deeply spiritual faith. Those values are expressed so much in beauty as a spiritual principle. Tim Willard did a great job on some of this in his book The Beauty Chasers and tackles some of the issues regarding the sacredness of church meeting spaces, as you do here.
Isaac Angel Meza’s great essay (first on Substack) on aesthetics, beauty and the transcendent does not disappoint also:
We are planting a church in Indiana and have deeply considered the ways in which we strive for the aesthetics even though we meet in a conference room that is ugly with no sensible display of transcendence. Do you have any practical means that could help us along the way as we strive for a building that is full of the symbolism the church ought to have?
Start small and work outward. In our early days, we met in a cafeteria and then in a gymnasium, so we had to be creative. Begin with something simple but meaningful—like a beautiful loaf of handmade bread for communion. From there, add a handmade communion table, paraments to adorn it, and beautiful communion ware.
Next, think about the spaces where the Word and sacraments are proclaimed. Build or purchase a beautiful pulpit, then add a baptismal font. When I started, I preached from a music stand, but over time, we were gifted a Gothic Revival pulpit from the 1800s. It completely transformed the space. I also made many things by hand in those early days. We also used pop-up banners to display art, bringing beauty into even the most temporary spaces.
Eventually, when we had a more permanent sanctuary, we bought arches to hang in the building, intentionally directing people’s eyes upward as they entered. These small additions made a big impact over time.
One project at a time is the key. Don’t feel pressured to do everything at once. You can also commission artists to create works that glorify God. We’ve done that before, and it’s a beautiful way to engage your community while building something meaningful for your congregation.
Every small effort matters. Over time, you’ll create a space that reflects the beauty and majesty of God in a way that nourishes your people and glorifies Him.
Genesis-Gods starting point was beauty- creation itself. And God rooted himself to this earth in comunity with human beings.
Our church plant bounced around in Chicago primarily due to zoning laws. We eventually bought an old church, beautiful sanctuary, and laid down roots in a community. And everything changed. Gods people are sojourners through time but rooted in space.
I can’t help but think that most churches pessimistic eschatology has a role to play in this. Why plant roots if we’re in the last days? The cathedrals prove that the church hasn’t always had this toxic mindset.
“Beauty matters. It’s not a secondary concern or an optional extra…the Church has a unique opportunity to offer what only it can: a glimpse of the divine through spaces, worship, and practices that reflect God’s truth, goodness, and beauty.”
Man, this whole paragraph just resonated in me on a gut level. Even just affirming those first two words, “beauty matters,” as a church is already a transformative step.
Something I learned recently from studying C.S. Lewis is that Truth, Goodness, and Beauty have its ontological order we are familiar with but also a *psychological* order: Beauty, Goodness, Truth—how beholders are drawn into Being Himself.
If you ever have the time, check out my first published post ever on beauty! I’d love to hear your thoughts. I build a theological aesthetic and apologetic for objective beauty and refute the subjective notions of beauty such as “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I use a lot of Lewis’ thoughts as my foundation. It would honestly mean so much if you checked it out!
It seems like everywhere I turn, someone is writing about the Transcendentals - and I'm loving it.
Josh, I love what you said about what it means "to plant deeper rather than wider." My heart is to see people (especially young generations) in the Church embrace a robust and deeply spiritual faith. Those values are expressed so much in beauty as a spiritual principle. Tim Willard did a great job on some of this in his book The Beauty Chasers and tackles some of the issues regarding the sacredness of church meeting spaces, as you do here.
Isaac Angel Meza’s great essay (first on Substack) on aesthetics, beauty and the transcendent does not disappoint also:
https://warriorgardenacademy.substack.com/p/beauty-is-not-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder
I’ve read some of Willard’s book but need to finish it. It was being passed around in our church a while back.
I’ll also check that out! Also glad that this resonated with you. Thanks, Kaleb!
We are planting a church in Indiana and have deeply considered the ways in which we strive for the aesthetics even though we meet in a conference room that is ugly with no sensible display of transcendence. Do you have any practical means that could help us along the way as we strive for a building that is full of the symbolism the church ought to have?
Certainly!
Start small and work outward. In our early days, we met in a cafeteria and then in a gymnasium, so we had to be creative. Begin with something simple but meaningful—like a beautiful loaf of handmade bread for communion. From there, add a handmade communion table, paraments to adorn it, and beautiful communion ware.
Next, think about the spaces where the Word and sacraments are proclaimed. Build or purchase a beautiful pulpit, then add a baptismal font. When I started, I preached from a music stand, but over time, we were gifted a Gothic Revival pulpit from the 1800s. It completely transformed the space. I also made many things by hand in those early days. We also used pop-up banners to display art, bringing beauty into even the most temporary spaces.
Eventually, when we had a more permanent sanctuary, we bought arches to hang in the building, intentionally directing people’s eyes upward as they entered. These small additions made a big impact over time.
One project at a time is the key. Don’t feel pressured to do everything at once. You can also commission artists to create works that glorify God. We’ve done that before, and it’s a beautiful way to engage your community while building something meaningful for your congregation.
Every small effort matters. Over time, you’ll create a space that reflects the beauty and majesty of God in a way that nourishes your people and glorifies Him.
Thank you brother! These are great stepping stones. Keep up the good work!
Your story is a good reminder to get back to the basics… including memorization do it before you “can’t remember….”