We are told that the first Jewish temple was the most magnificent building that the world has ever seen. And why shouldn't it have been? The Lord Himself was the architect. But of greatest importance was the fact that this building was conducive to true worship. The architecture of churches should create a worshipful atmosphere.
I had it quite forcefully impressed upon me as a young man that we should dress so that we will not be conspicuous. To some extent this same principle applies to church architecture or the furniture that is placed within the church. I have had people on committees say, "I want the furniture just like such and such a church which you have furnished." But when I ask them to describe the furniture, they cannot do so. This was proof to me that they were pleased with it, that it was properly designed, and that it did fit into the picture and produce a worshipful atmosphere.
Through the centuries the Colonial furniture or the Colonial churches and the Gothic-designed cathedrals were developed to the place that they created an atmosphere of true worship. But in the past few years there has been a real "swing" to contemporary or modern designs. This can either be good or bad. Many of the contemporary designs are worshipful in their appearance and are far more functional than some of the older styles. This is particularly true of the furniture. It is also true, however, that some of the contemporary designs are very close kin to some modern paintings, and they certainly do not, in the wildest stretch of imagination, help to create a worshipful atmosphere.
If we are not looking primarily for the architectural design of the church but it immediately impresses us that it is a beautiful church edifice, without our being aware of the type of architecture, then, in that sample of modern or contemporary architecture the purpose has been accomplished.
There is also something that should be very carefully borne in mind in choosing the furniture for your church. You would never wish to put contemporary furniture into a Colonial church or vice versa, and you would certainly not wish to put Colonial furniture in a Gothic church. There are, of course, some designs of furniture that are more or less universal in their appeal, just as there are certain colors that will not clash with any other color.
Many laymen and ministers on committees are not fully qualified to classify what architectural designs would blend and, unfortunately, sometimes there is an architectural clash in some of the pieces of furniture; sometimes it is in the furniture in the chancel area. I have observed churches that were very proper as far as the pews were concerned, but in the chancel area the furniture was not designed to go with the church architecture.
We should be very careful in choosing the architect for our churches, and have only those who understand the order of worship that is carried on by Seventh-day Adventists. For if the church is built for a divided chancel, and we place in it a center pulpit, it throws the entire chancel area out of proportion and is very displeasing to the worshiper, even though he may not know why he is displeased with it. There is considerable feeling among Seventh-day Adventists that we should not have the divided chancel. This feeling is largely a carry-over from times past when all our churches were small, for there is nothing that is more objectionable in appearance than a small church with an elaborate, divided chancel. However, many of our churches today are being built so large that the chancel area is almost as large as many of our former churches. If these are not properly designed, they create almost a vacuum. That is why an architect who understands Seventh-day Adventist worship should be chosen to design your church, so that if you are going to have a center chancel he would design a church, even a large one, in proportion.
The same thing applies in seating a church with opera-type seating. The very name indicates it is secular. I have been told by many ministers who have changed from opera seats to pews that the difference in reverence in their house of worship after the change to pews was outstanding. This is easily understood when we realize that the subconscious mind immediately associates opera seating with the opera or something secular, whereas, throughout the years pews have been used in churches until our minds have been educated to recognize a pew as something sacred. The attempt that is so often made to make opera seating appear appropriate for a church by putting pew ends on the ends of the rows of seats is closely akin to the mixture of good and evil. The only reason that ever existed for using opera seats in churches, namely their comfort, does not apply any more because we are building upholstered pews which give greater comfort and cost less than the opera seats.
In our experience in furnishing several thousand churches we have, on the whole, been very well pleased with the Adventist churches; usually they are modest and worshipful in their appearance. However, there are quite a number of churches that are modern monstrosities as far as the architecture is concerned. Sometimes an Adventist group has been carried away by the architect's imagination and has chosen this kind of architecture, thinking it will be so outstanding that it will attract attention as a house of worship. When the church resorts to these unusual architectural designs it comes into the same category as some of the churches that have had to put on secular entertainments and banquets to attract people to their services.
It is my earnest prayer and desire that all our Seventh-day Adventist churches should be of a worshipful design and should be properly furnished, for I am fully convinced that this has a greatly increased evangelistical appeal. As we near the end of time we need to draw the unconverted to our places of worship, and one way in which we can do this is to have the church buildings and their furniture beautiful, functional, pleasingly simple, economical, and in proper taste as to color. Avoid the spectacular, the gaudy, the common secular appearance as you would avoid secular music in worship.
