Theology House and Laid-law College in Christchurch jointly hosted a day conference on Theology and Church Architecture atten-ded by around 90 people from churches all over Canterbury.

Organiser Alistair Mac-kenzie (Laidlaw College Christchurch) believes the new church buildings will be more user friendly for the community. “A lot of churches are trying to build ‘softer’ points of connection between the world outside of the church and the world inside of the church. One way of doing that is by housing a lot of community-related ministries so that churches can be used for multiple purposes,” he said.

Mr Mackenzie said the group was also seriously considering the need to rebuild every church, or whether some solutions could be found in working together.

“Are there new ways of sharing resources and working together between churches of the same denomination and across denominations?” he asked.

Murray Rae, theology professor at Otago, trained architect and Presbyterian minister, suggested the most important skill set required for a church building committee was the ability to articulate theological vision.

Prof Rae also made a telling observation about two major influences on church design in Aotearoa New Zealand — ‘temple’ and ‘meeting house’ — and asked whether we can merge them in our new and restored churches.

Mark Southcombe, a lecturer in architecture at Victoria University and also a practising architect and Catholic layman, highlighted that good things can be achieved at reasonable cost, with careful design and local input into building. He presented several case studies showing how some churches have “succeeded brilliantly as sacred spaces for liturgy and functional spaces for community activities; while others, for want of a little more understanding, have failed badly”.

A Baptist pastor in Botany Downs and practising architect, John McLean, challenged the conference to take on board the task of building churches in a postmodern and post-Christendom era.

He noted that historically, churches were built adjacent to public squares, but contemporary churches needed to make spaces that helped the transition from public spaces (often roads and streets) to the sacred.

Mr Mackenzie said as church leaders shared their experiences and their theologies of rebuilding the churches they were responsible for, an emerging theme was ‘hope.’ “We need not despair that the faith of Canterbury will never be rebuilt.”

Organiser Peter Carrell, Director of Theology House, said, “Theology is vital to the restored and new churches of Canterbury, the first step before any drawing takes place and foundations laid.”

By AAron Ironside