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The Ethics of the Empty Church: Anglicanism’s Need for a Theology of Architecture1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2015

William Whyte
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Abstract

In this polemical paper, produced for the Churches, Communities, and Society conference at the Lincoln Theological Institute, University of Manchester, I argue that the Church of England has failed to develop a coherent or convincing theology of architecture. Such a failure raises practical problems for an institution responsible for the care of 16,000 buildings, a quarter of which are of national or international importance. But it has also, I contend, produced an impoverished understanding of architecture’s role as an instrument of mission and a tool for spiritual development. Following a historical survey of attitudes towards church buildings, this paper explores and criticizes the Church of England’s current engagement with its architecture. It raises questions about what has been done and what has been said about churches. It argues that the Church of England lacks a theology of church building and church closing, and calls for work to develop just such a thing.

Keywords

architectureChurch of Englandemotionestablishmentheritagemission
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Anglican Studies , Volume 13 , Issue 2 , November 2015 , pp. 172 - 188
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Copyright
© The Journal of Anglican Studies Trust 2015 

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Footnotes

1.

Delivered as part of the colloquium ‘Church, Communities and Society’ held to mark the tenth anniversary of the Lincoln Theological Institute, 25–26 October 2013, at the University of Manchester.

2.

William Whyte is Professor of Social and Architectural History at St John’s College, University of Oxford, and associate priest in the benefice of Kidlington with Hampton Poyle.

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