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Relational architecture
Read how three congregations have designed their properties to be inviting spaces for their neighbors. The first congregation spotlighted is Carbon Valley Lutheran Church in Firestone, Colo. Hear from Carbon Valley's pastor, Tim Spiegelberg:
Is your church facility hospitable? As a new church plant in Firestone, Colo., we had the opportunity to ask ourselves that question as we designed our first building.
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During that design, a fascinating subculture of architecture came to light. It’s called hostile architecture. Maybe you have seen examples of it: benches with metal bars so no one can sleep on them; spikes on walls to prevent intruders climbing; or, as in the case of Moynihan Train Hall in New York City, the absence of anywhere to sit at all. It’s not hard to understand the purpose of hostile architecture. But if curbing behavior we don’t want works, then how about encouraging behavior we do want?
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The writer of Hebrews encourages us not only to continue loving one another but also to be hospitable (loving) to strangers. “Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it” (13:2).
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In a facility-use sense, I think we naturally consider how our buildings and campuses work for us, but how do they work for the stranger and those in our communities? What has guided our congregation from its inception has been the desire to “Connect people to Christ and create community.” With the new building, congregation members asked, “How will it encourage connection to Christ through the use of his Word but also encourage relationships among our church family and with our community?” To put it another way, how can our building avoid hostile architecture and utilize relational architecture?
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Carbon Valley Lutheran Church in Firestone, Colo., has intentionalized using its building and campus to connect people to Christ and create community.
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Black pens, blue pens, and red pens. Highlighters, crayons, and markers. Notebooks, loose-leaf paper, and three-ring binders. Compass, scissors, and glue sticks. August means back to school. But what do you do that first day of school? Organize . . .
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“To put my art out there was a huge blessing,” says Vienne Lang, a junior at Luther Preparatory School, Watertown, Wis., about her experience entering and winning the Taste of Missions high school poster contest. “Knowing that they saw and were able to . . .
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In the January 2024 issue of Forward in Christ, WELS President Mark Schroeder highlighted a religious freedom case in Finland. Finland’s prosecutor general had brought criminal charges of "ethnic agitation" against a Lutheran pastor, Rev. Juhana . . .
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