Jim Vander Molen AIA and I were interviewed for this article.
It is amazing how a very rich hour-long conversation about our recent experiences with attitudes toward sacred space, generational preferences, renewed interest in mystery/awe from younger evangelicals, the ability to successfully combine natural light AND projection, and our seeing the role of technology changing from "idolatrous proportions" back into something more understated and in support of worship, gets boiled down to one or two quotes that are true; however, the article doesn't quite say what we tried to communicate.
The author could not seem to shake his notion that all of American Evangelical Christianity is on a one-way trip towards dull non-denominational performance-center-styled mega-church auditoriums, a trend I might have reluctantly agreed with in 1998. During the fact-check I told him as much, and gave him many examples and discussed what we have experienced as a resurgence in a desire for meaning, including the Lifeway research "Unchurched Prefer Cathedrals" and the recent Barna group research showing Millennials' strong desire for experiencing transcendence and a "Bigger" God rather than a "hipper" God. The author said that this piece was only concerned with the stained glass industry and overall national church demographic trends, and it was not the purpose of the article to cover both sides, but that he'd talk more with his religion editor about that conversation. Let's hope this happens.
For a more accurate description of what we are experiencing in our practice, please see:
http://www.designerpub.com/education/here-we-are-now-entertain-us -------------------------------------------
Steven Fridsma AIA
Elevate Studio
Grand Rapids MI
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