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Metaphors for our TimeRethinking sacred space for worship is challenging, especially in a time when there seems to be more comfort in maintaining traditional ways of doing things. Yet, there is something noteworthy about seeking ways to strip away centuries of embellishments that perhaps have compromised those characteristics that seem to be integral to the religion. William Sloan Coffin once remarked in a sermon at Riverside Church that the word "tradition" is often used as a euphemism for "habit." Sometimes we have to pull ourselves away from the things that are habit forming, those things that appear to be traditional, in order to perceive and appreciate the essentials. That's the way it is with our places of worship. They are not merely containers for religious objects or even rituals. There is nothing magical about them. Further, these places should never, to my mind, be considered solely as relics of a previous era that must be revered at all cost.3 Instead houses for worship are best thought of as metaphors, resonators that take us to deeper dimensions of the sacred that are not limited by architecture, art, music, preaching, or ceremonies. In this way a play on words can be helpful to understanding the power of the metaphor. The church (building) is the "called out ones" (Greek ekklesia). The synagogue (building) is the "gathering of people" (Greek sunagoge). The buildings are sacred because of what goes on in them. Since we believe it is important to periodically rethink our liturgical forms, then it is also time to rethink what constitutes a sacred space. Otherwise it is like trying to pour new wine into old wineskins. The playwright Tony Kushner once wrote, "In this world there is a kind of painful progress; longing for what we've left behind and dreaming ahead." The challenge today, for students, professors, and colleagues, is to rethink the place of churches, synagogues, and mosques in terms of our worship practice. In the contemporary United States the call is to be imaginative about the future at the same time that we honor our past. 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Contents |
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