The built environment creates a language that is hidden to most. The places we visit and the spaces we inhabit shape us each day, whether we realize it or not. In our work designing and building church spaces at Aspen Group, we continually see a causal relationship between the spaces we create and the culture that develops within it. Our vision for our three-year research project with Barna Group was to help bring these very basic but unconscious human reactions to the forefront of learning for church leaders.
This first journal is about making space for inspiration—inspiration to do what? Why do we need to be inspired? Isn’t it enough to know what’s right and choose to do it?
So much of desire starts with inspiration—seeing what kind of goodness, truth, and beauty is possible. However, Barna reports in some of their other research that Gen Z is uniquely pragmatic—they want to pursue whatever will make them money so they can lead comfortable lives. But Jesus doesn’t demonstrate much interest in pragmatism (or comfort!) The parable of the pearl of great worth, the treasure in the field, the lost coin, and the prodigal son are stories of sacrifice and extravagant passion.
We are desperate for something that transcends the anxiety of our lives. The research bears this out. Visiting spiritual or transcendent places is not very common; yet people express a desire for peaceful spaces. Unsurprisingly, “nature” is the top environment U.S. adults consider transcendent—the space God has created is where we often find peace.
The research also confirms that Christians are being discipled in a variety of places, but church and home spaces take the top spots. Even in an increasingly secular society, respect and reverence for church buildings remain. This is a significant (and underused) opportunity for our churches today.
Despite this, Christians struggle to find beauty and connection in their church’s building. Whether they are Christian or not, the majority of U.S. adults agree that churches have a role beyond worship.
In our polarized, pragmatic, self-medicated age when all the world seems bleak and mundane, the church has a tremendous opportunity to inspire people to a deeper life in Christ. There’s something about this project that is simply an exploration of an intuition we have about the connection between a place and the faith, hope, and love it can inspire.
Why should church leaders care about church buildings again? This is the driving force of our mission at Aspen Group, and the passion behind this study: that we have an opportunity to influence people’s discipleship through our spaces. Our hope for this project is that churches themselves would be inspired to be creative. Making beautiful spaces is not only possible—it is missional!
We believe godly ministry happens when we create beautiful churches, and we hope this moves people, even in small ways, to action, new partnerships, and profound creativity. Bodies need buildings, and buildings tell stories, which ultimately point us to God and the community of people we are called to serve.
To learn more about this project, visit https://www.aspengroup.com/making-space and check out the Making Space Podcast