by Rev. Blake Altman, Lead Pastor, on behalf of the Session
When Lauren and I moved to Oklahoma people said, “you won’t be a real church until you have a building...” While contrary to Scripture, that sentiment speaks to a longing in the human heart for security, rootedness, and permanent presence. Buildings—especially church buildings—represent presence and permanence.
We know from Scripture that God’s presence and power does not require a building “since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him” (2 Chronicles 2:6). Before his death Steven reminded us, “the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands” (Acts 7:48). The fact that God’s people were not able to build a permanent building—the temple—until Solomon’s reign in 971 BC shows us at least two things: 1) you don’t need a church building to accomplish a vision for ministry or be a vibrant community on mission for the Kingdom; 2) God’s tabernacles with His people by indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the essential marks of God’s church can be present without a permanent facility. However, we can learn from off-the-cuff comments like the ones Lauren and I heard above because they speak about a culture’s desire for permanence and rootedness; and we in many ways share those cultural values.
Six years and two church plants later God continues to use Trinity to show that grace changes everything in Jesus Christ. While we could continue to set up for forty years like the Israelites, we don’t want to do that and are asking the Lord to answer that prayer. We believe Trinity’s vision will be better executed through a permanent facility; we can be strategic with the gospel and hospitable in new ways, breaking through Tulsa’s predominant cultural idols of performance, power, materialism, and comfort with the good news of the gospel.
To that end, I want to lay the groundwork for Trinity’s session to lead the congregation in planning, designing and constructing a permanent facility for Trinity Presbyterian Church. Physical space is important and not arbitrary to God’s creative order. In making “brick and mortar” decisions we are expressing what we believe about God, His people, and His world.
Two Errant Views of the Material World to Avoid
As modern Christians we are tempted to believe to two errant views of the material world. The first is the error of materialism, which, technically defined, means that matter is the ultimate reality and governing force behind every thought and action. One may also understand materialism less technically to refer to the accumulation of material things as markers of status and significance. In our culture, people often define themselves by what they possess (houses, businesses, hunting leases, accomplishments, etc) or to what group they belong (clubs, alma maters, exclusive groups, etc). In a culture that prizes these things, buildings take on meaning as status symbols. We often make decisions regarding our homes, for example, based upon cultural norms or how we would like to be perceived by those around us rather than on considerations of biblical aesthetics, God’s providential provision in our lives, or the practice of hospitality. In this way, buildings become idols or substitute gods in our lives. It was, in fact, a building program that prompted God to scatter human beings to the ends of the earth and confuse their language (Genesis 11:1-9).
The second error is that of platonic dualism, which de-emphasizes material things in favor of focusing on the “spiritual” realm. One version of this philosophy that has influenced Christianity is gnosticism, which among other things teaches that our souls (i.e., our true selves) are trapped in our physical bodies and that salvation involves the soul’s escape from its bodily imprisonment. Platonic dualism has worked its way into the vocabulary and praxis of the church through the church’s emphases on “saving souls” and the popular understanding among many evangelical Christians that all material things will be destroyed upon the return of Christ who will usher in a “spiritual” heaven.
Trinity seeks to avoid these two competing errors of the material world.
Theological Framework
Therefore, as we begin to make decisions about what kind of building we will one day build or purchase, it is vital for us to begin with a biblical consideration of the material world. The best place to begin is at the beginning, where we read in Genesis 1:1 that “God created the heavens and the earth.” This is a radical statement. In distinction to early creation myths where the earth was formed out of strife between the gods, God created the material world out of nothing and pronounced it “good.” We can further get a picture of the “goodness” of material things when we consider who we are as human beings. The book of Genesis presents this beautifully in chapter 2 in the account of the creation of Adam and Eve:
“…the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature” (Genesis 2:7, ESV).
“…the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made (lit. ‘built’) into a woman and brought her to the man” (Genesis 2:21, 22, ESV).
These passages present human beings as a unified whole — a nexus of body and soul that God created to be united for eternity. Death is the destroyer of the body/soul nexus, and, because death is a result of sin, the separation of the physical body from the soul is “not the way it is supposed to be.” The Apostle Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15 that even though our souls will ascend to heaven immediately upon death, this is an intermediate state and not our ultimate hope. Our ultimate hope is in the return of Christ when our souls and bodies will be reunited, and we will live for eternity in the new heavens and the new earth. Paul expresses this glorious mystery this way:
“For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:53-55, ESV)
Our final consideration in this matter involves the Lord Jesus Christ who “became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). It is significant that Jesus took on true human flesh and did not simply seem to become a man. For Jesus to take on flesh validates the goodness of our physical bodies and signifies that we are not imprisoned souls. When Jesus rose from the grave, he did so as a physical being. The Westminster Shorter Catechism expresses this mystery well in its consideration of the person of Christ:
Q: Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect?
A: The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continues to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, forever. (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 21)
At this point you may be asking what this theological discourse has to do with long-range planning, purchasing land, hiring an architect, drawing up plans, overseeing construction, and holding worship services in a new facility. It has everything to do with it because the Bible teaches that material things are important and, therefore, what we think about material structures carries meaning. In other words, whether we are conscious of it or not, what we ultimately construct will in some way communicate what we believe about God and His world.
If we adhere to the error of materialism, we will find our ultimate identity in a building that is judged acceptable by whatever element in our culture we deem important. The building will have meaning as a symbol of our “success” as a church, and it will become a monument to ourselves. In other words, we will be saying that we are god and repeat the sin our fathers committed at the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11.
On the other hand, if we adhere to the error of platonic dualism, we will disregard architecture, art, and the communicative power of physical space in favor of utilitarianism. If it “works” to gather people for a meeting on Sundays, it is good. We may use materials, for example, that are functional in the near term but will not stand the test of time. In this way, we speak theologically of our disdain for the physical in deference to the spiritual, and we also communicate our belief that we will not be here very long.
Is there a better way forward? I believe the Bible teaches that the way we plan and construct our building is important as a means of communicating to ourselves and to the Tulsa Metro Area what we believe about God. In other words, a church building is not “neutral” space; it will communicate something. It is our role as leaders in the church to think carefully about what we are communicating and make responsible decisions not just for ourselves, but also for the future welfare of our city.
Let me offer three practical principles to guide our thinking.
Principle 1: Trinity’s Master Plan Invests into Architecture for the Next Generation
We want to build a building that communicates transcendence and welcome, a beautiful facility made of quality materials that stand the test of time. Our prayer is that Trinity’s master plan not only accommodates this generation but also future generations with an architectural style that endures. We want our master plan to reflect Trinity’s permanent commitment to Owasso and Tulsa Metro, and, where possible, avoid architectural decisions that date our building or assumes planned obsolescence. We want the next generation to thank us for an energy efficient and quality-constructed facility that is beautiful, reintroduces enchantment, and facilitates worship, not wonder why we cut corners.
Principle 2: Trinity’s Master Plan Accommodates a Gathered Worship Seating Capacity Initially of 300-500
Tulsa Metro is projected to add 100,000 each decade for the foreseeable future. Young families are leaving rural towns for stable jobs in the city. Owasso has available land and will absorb a significant portion of that growth. Economists project our part small of Tulsa Metro could double in size in the next twenty years (from 35,000 to 70,000 people). We do not know how large Trinity will grow, but we will plan for our membership to reach at least 500 members and continue to strategically send members out to plant new churches in their communities. We believe the church gets bigger as it gets smaller by planting gospel-centered churches who also plant churches. We also know that a strong regional church is needed to complement other congregations in the PCA throughout Oklahoma, northwest Arkansas, and southwest Missouri.
Our goal is to have an initial gathered worship space that seats 400 initially but can be expanded to seat 500 - 700 with multiple services. Historically, Trinity has maintained an approximate 1:4 ratio of covenant children five years or younger to the rest of the membership. That means that if we have 300 members attend on a given Sunday we would have approximately 225 in the worship service and 75 children in TrinityKids. If 500 members attend, approximately 375 would be in the worship service and 125 children would be in TrinityKids, etc. These projections assume all members are present but does not include guests, family and friends.
Principle 3: Trinity’s Master Plan Allows for Co-belligerent Partnerships with Non-profit & Community-Development Organizations
When we evaluate existing structures, it is important that we don’t simply evaluate facilities based on Trinity’s needs, but rather take into account Owasso’s needs. Taken all together, today’s church facilities are the most underutilized buildings in the history of western civilization. Churches used to be open twenty-four hours a day for prayer, counseling and diaconal needs. In modern times church buildings are used predominantly on Sundays and Wednesdays with special events scattered throughout the weekdays. Occasionally in our suburban context a pre-school, homeschool co-op or private school will lease space from churches to use throughout the week but this is not common. We acknowledge that the rise of the automobile and the expansion of city populations into suburban neighborhoods contribute to churches no longer being situated in town squares, but could there be a better approach? The lack of being a church with open doors “for the city” throughout the week is one implication of the utilitarian approach we are seeking to avoid. In this respect Trinity House is a model; it has been well-received by the city and community non-profit leaders. In 2017 fourteen different non-profit organizations used Trinity House for meetings and brainstorming sessions. We’d love to build on this momentum as we consider a permanent home.
There are examples from Owasso and Tulsa I am glad to share in person. For example, we can imagine hosting a counseling center with weekly support groups and other community-development organizations to address the social and physical needs in our city about which Trinity also cares: rising addictions, high divorce rates, high financial debt, high-pressure youth sports activities, a lack of sabbath rest, and debilitating mental health symptoms.
There is a growing need for faith-based, community-development organizations to serve as intermediary structures -- organizations which stand between church or state -- to provide quality health care, child-care, after-school tutoring, family-counseling, job skills training, clothing, and co-working space to meet practical needs in our region. Trinity desires to be co-belligerent with such organizations. Co-belligerence is a term that means to be in battle together against a common enemy without a formal alliance. In other words, it means that Trinity shares overlapping concerns with many non-profits who care for the “widow, poor and orphan.” We simply cannot do the specific work in which these non-profits specialize without considerable money and time. And why would we? Trinity’s responsibility has been and will continue to be proclaiming the gospel in worship, evangelizing the lost, building gospel-centered community, administering the sacraments, and exercising church discipline. So, rather than commandeer or duplicate other local, thriving mercy ministries under Trinity’s diaconate -- and risk being distracted from our biblical purpose -- we want to help co-belligerent organizations accomplish their vision and while preserving mutual autonomy, for Trinity and for them.
Over the past three years I have dialogued with organizations about coming together in one local space with greater impact for the community. Again, why is this relevant? Because we want to keep these organizations in mind when we evaluate a building or design one ourselves. Imagine a centrally located space that could provide secure access for each organization to carry out its vision. Imagine several of Owasso’s leading non-profit organizations maintaining their unique vision, leadership and identity, and yet synergistically gleaning ideas from one another as they share a workroom, kitchen, and conference room. Imagine a beautiful building that communicates permanence, presence, and rest. Imagine a building used not only for Sunday worship or Wednesday night fellowship, but every day of the week for the common good of Owasso and the Tulsa Metro Area. Word and deed ministry operating synergistically in one location. Can you imagine it?
On their own, each organization would need to raise significant capital, but together we can reach goals and visions at a more economical price point. Further, citizens could receive the physical, social, emotional and spiritual help they need in a centrally-located facility in Owasso.
Conclusion & Summary Questions
In conclusion, this paper’s purpose is to help the session and lay leadership avoid the twin perils of either a materialistic view on the one hand, or utilitarian view on the other. I hope we can agree that physical space is important and not arbitrary, and that in making practical decisions about a building we are expressing what we believe about God and His world. In this brief paper I’ve tried to lay the tracks for our session and leaders to begin their work in planning and building our permanent facility. We want our facility to stand generations, resource church plants, and be used seven days a week by co-belligerent non-profit organizations. In doing so, we hope to further our vision to show how grace changes everything in Jesus Christ.
Below are summary questions to ask ourselves:
Local churches often under utilize their facilities throughout the week. Is this biblical stewardship? Are we making good use of the resources God has given us?
The Bible teaches that Christ will one day return to make all things new – the physical as well as the spiritual. Will people notice the intentionality and beauty of the Kingdom when they see our physical structure?
The Tabernacle and Temple are examples in the Bible where God used skilled artists and craftsmen to communicate truth. What messages will our facility communicate when people attend worship at Trinity?
We must be consistent about the way we think about physical space. One diagnostic question we should ask is: “Would I make this decision about my own home when future generations of my family planned to live here?”
At Trinity we have a history of valuing beauty and musical excellence in worship for the glory of God. Should we think differently of the visual arts and architecture? Will there be a disconnect between our liturgy and our physical structure? Is that appropriate?
How can we be responsible to communicate beauty? How do we bring together an environment of hospitality and transcendence, majesty and mystery, rest and repentance for glory of our Great Triune God?
* I am indebted to Rev. Clay Holland, Senior Pastor of Christ the King PCA in Houston, TX for allowing me to build on his thinking in his area as he led their long-range planning team to consider their church's architecture & design.