"My Boss is a Jewish architect"

"If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them."

-Thoreau,
Conclusion to Walden

I am so glad to have an architect on our church.

I need to sit him down, pick his (big) architect-brain, and take copius notes.

Because I just found out that I am an architect, and didn't know it.

In finding/refinding/refining our role as pastors these days, we pastor-types could do well in interviewing folks (whether Christian or not) who represent professions "obviously" parallel in some way to our vocation as pastors.

The most obvious profession of course would be shepherds; as that is what "pastor" literally means. Later this year, on a trip to Israel, I would love to sit down with a shepherd and learn what God has to teach me. We recently had a wonderful guest teacher, who had interviewed a 'secular' horticulturist. The insights for ministry were profound; especially if all this talk of organic church is not (holy) smoke and (mere) mirrors. Other professions come to mind: teachers, CEOs (careful with that one!), police !!! (I actually wrote a whole article on that here), zookeepers(!).

But isn't architect an obvious analogy for what we are called to do?

Through four diverse mentors...Dallas Elder (the only one I have met) , Wolfgang Simson, Buckminster Fuller and Paul Tillich...I have recently been convinced more than ever that such is the case.

Dallas Elder recently taught in his excellent "Life Cycles of a Church Plant" class on the 'architectural authority' of the leader, referencing 1 Tim 4:11-16. This teaching, often misapplied, or framejacked, as allowing autocratic leaders; instead unleashes the freedom of realizing that we accept that we are the primary 'plan-drawer,' . "The common mistake that church planters make," Dallas suggests, " is to form church from the context of the community, rather than from the calling....The calling creates the community; the calling clarifies and defines the 'boundary lines' for the community; the 'calling' forms the foundation upon which the house will be built."

Many churches flirt with being "formless and void," even foundationless (that can be remedied; see the Emerson quote at top of page), simply due to an apostolic architect or pastor abdicating their foundational/architectural role.

I realize some of you are waving red flags; just as some did in Dallas' class. But don't hear what he's not saying; and apply it to the early era of planting a new work (later the builders come in and do what we could never do, but only dreamed of), and an atmosphere of apostolic humility (those two words are not oxymorons; see this excellent piece by Brian Dodd). I would also challenge someone who is exceptionally sensitive to the centrality of community, and the abuses of pastoral/apsotolic authority, to weigh in. I would love to see what form/foundation a church that Len would plant as chief architect. The irony is that it could...and should... look a lot like Len...he is an architect AND humble.

And to suggest it is unbiblical to build on the foundation of a human leader, recall Paul "refusing to build on another man's foundation." He know he had to be free to be the architect.

Those who argue "But JESUS is the foundation of the church, not apostles, prophets.,pastors, leaders" are well-meaning but miss the shocking Ephesians 2:20: "church is founded on the foundation of apostles and prophets"). I have found that asking a room full of card-carrying evangelicals "According to Ephesians 2:20, who is the foumdation of the church?" results in eleven out of ten immediately announcing the (wrong) answer: Jesus.

!

Look it up. But that in your architectural pipe and smoke it.

And I agree: we also need to heed the other side of the message.

“We shape our buildings," Churchill said," and then our buildings shape us.”
Don't hear what I am not saying.

Wolfgang Simson, whose seminal first book "Houses That Change the World," should be read yesterday, will soon release another amazing book claiming that "apostolic architecture and prophetic listening will disciple half the planet." When you read this new book (It will be a free download), underline every occurence of "architect," and you will have a crucial curriculum for leadership in these historic/futuric days.

Buckminster Fuller..incredible pioneering architect (of buildings and ideas),who created 4D... Where to begin?

Perhaps anywhere in his "Ideas and Integrites: A Spontaneous Autobiographical Disclosure":

"The utterly revised education of the architect...will fit the graduating architect to take over in due course the functions of yesterday's patron despots and economic dictators...The successful architectural training of that period soon to come will be such as to convert all the subjectively harvested and integrated information into objectively operating, techical advantages for world society in completely tooled up and well-organized comprehensive, anticipatapory livingry systems." (277)

He's not even talking church here...or is he? Simply susbstitute "pastor" for "architect" and see what happens. Note well: He contrasts the "livingry" system that is wanting to be birthed in the current postmodern shift with "Killingry systems" or "weaponry systems" of the old era/wineskin/school. Here is where Len needs to chime in again. And may I say "The System is NOT the Solution" ; and the "System failure" sign flashed toward the end of "The Matrix" should be considered.

Semiotically speaking; eh, Mac?

Paul Tillich? I have already complied some germane quotes of his from "Art and Architecture" here; but let me paste some in below. Consider:


√"Even today, many congregations and ministers still assume that the choice...is merely a matter of taste and preference. They fail to see that ONLY by the creation of new forms can Protestant churches achieve an honest expression of their faith." (220)

√"Today (1962!!!!!), genuine Protestant church architecture is possible, perhaps for the first time in our history. For the early experiments were too swiftly engulfed by eclecticism to act as evolutionary factors in developing a recognizable Protestant architectural language." (220)

√"I want organic materials...How can architecture combine the emotion-filled idea of 'home' with the ethics of honesty? How much architectural honesty has the architect to sacrifice in order to build a cozy middle-class home?. How much of the sentimental idea of home must the customer sacrifice to accept the idea of honesty by the architect?...
honesty condemns imitation as well as trimming." (223)

If you can't immediately begin to apply something here to church, you are on the wrong website. --------------------------------------------------
Here are few other thinkers who have even mentioned the pastor as architect:

Thanks to Erwin McManus, I have sometimes called myself...even business card wise...a "cultural architect." Culture, style,.atmosphere of a church (usually duly listed as "values," an also-ran underneath the obligatory mission and purpose statements) is in our day more "foundational" than ever. There is great freedom in a varierty of style of churches, but as Tillich offers, "style itself is revelatory....In all human creativity, whether cultural or spiritual, the form is that what makes a creation what it is...the subject matter is formed by the form" (126).

McManus:
"True leadership affects the soul of the organization and the spirit of the people. The irony is that, while secular leadership has become blatantly spiritual, Christian leadership has become blatantly (and blandly) secular. We need to recapture the invisible aspects of leadership. We must focus our attention on the creating and shaping of ethos and then on the structures that best nurture and harness its potential. In the end leadership is nothing less than spiritual. And spiritual leaders are essentially cultural architects.

Spiritual leadership is both art and science, so the pastor must be both artist and engineer. Frank Lloyd Wright’s assertion that form and function are one is nowhere more apparent than in the church. All the material from which God builds his church exists and emerges from the hearts of God’s people. The church is a construct of human talents, gifts, intelligence, passions, skills, disciplines, experiences, and commitments energized by the Holy Spirit.

If true leadership is essentially spiritual, then serving as a pastor is the ultimate leadership challenge-leading as a servant of God. The context is invisible, mystical, of the spirit-both the Holy and the human. The product is real, tangible, transforming both personal and cultural.
The metaphor of a leader as a cultural architect encompasses this dynamic, not on a parallel track in the leadership process but as an integrated component. The cultural architect effects cultural transformation from the wisdom of both disciplines. His work is sacred as he labors to build the house of God, not with brick and cement but through each life that is joined with the community by the transforming power of God’s Spirit" -McManus, "The Leader"


Mark Driscoll, at his best prophetic and humorous; and at worst annoying and nearly misogymist... must be wrestled with: "One of the greatest inhibitors of keeping a church on mission is the erroneous spoken and unspoken expectations people have for church leaders and their families. In a missional church, the lead pastor is the architect who builds the ship more than he is the captain who pilots it, the cook who washes dishes in the galley, or the activities director who coordinates the shuffleboard reservations. The role of architect is incredibly important because most pastors have been trained how to work on a ship instead of how to build a ship" ( "Confessions of a Reformission Rev." , Mark Driscoll, 34).

Also:

"The most difficult and most important task for any pastor is that of cultural architect or culturetech. How do you manage or measure intangibles? The key is identification of values and beliefs--the double-helix of a church's spiritual DNA. And being intentional about keeping them front and center. For example, at NCC we take fun seriously. Call me crazy, but we believe that church should be enjoyable! You ought to walk out feeling better than when you walked in. When we're shooting a video or crafting a sermon or planning a series, we're intentional about incorporating elements that are fun. Like me dressing up in a Mr. Incredible suit and doing on-the-street interviews in downtown DC! That's part of our personality as a church! " -Mark Batterson

"I have never called myself, “Senior Pastor.” Once we get past 40 or 50 people we are no longer really pastoring people – we are leading or something else. For most of my time in Cincinnati I have called myself the "Atmosphere Architect," a term that I coined early on. Others have used that term in their books, but I made it up about 18 years ago (I love it when authors take my terms and use them in their books!) I see myself as Captain Stubbing on the Love Boat, going about 24/7 seeing where the atmosphere of love is being hindered and in the name of the Lord I getting the party back on track!" -Steve Sjogren

Leonard Sweet has written well about "Church Architecture for the twenty First Century," and
Christopher Leersen, an architect and city plammer has written a worthwhile blog, "Urban Planning and His Kingdom."

A quick googling of "spiritual architecture" reveals a poetentially relevant book.

But a half-serious/half- curious googling for "Jesus was an architect" found me one result: that line in a rock song by Ministry (great name for a decidedly nonChristian band):

"Jesus was an architect previous to his career as a prophet.."

That intriguing soundbite is from the song, "Jesus Built My Hotrod"..lyrics here if you dare...heads up that the rest of the lyrics sound terribly throwaway, laced with sexs and drugs; and at the end, even turn obscene...which cause the prophetic Jesus line to stand out all the more.

It hit me that a carpenter is indeed a subset of architect.

Maybe the Masons didn't get it all wrong (leave it to the amazing Wolfgang to write a prophetic piece on what we can learn from freemasonry...here it is) in their name of choice for God:"Great Architect of the Universe"..

If Jesus was(is and always will be?) an architect, how much more do I need to be?

Especially in light of "open source" technology being a wake-up call to the church, with folks dialoguing on "open source theology," I was intrigued by this article on "open source architecture".

All this to say I need to be more like Scott, the archetypical architect-type (and thus inevitably a pastor-type) dude from our church...Who will post a comment below accepting my appointment for an interview.

...After I peruse my new pastor's magazine(Architectural Digest,of course...ironically nownicknamed "A.D."), and the Wikipedia entry on "architect" ("The word 'architect' is derived from the Latin architectus or from the Greek arkhitekton. In the broadest sense an architect is a person who translates the user's needs into the builder's requirements."....Hmmm)