Transformation of Protestant Architecture
Transformation of Protestant Architecture
Introducing the transformation in the evangelical church architecture that occurred over the course of the nineteenth century – from the Federalist meetinghouses with their oblong meeting rooms filled with box pews and dominated by an elevated pulpit to the late nineteenth‐century auditorium church with its radial‐plan sanctuary with sloped floors, curved pews, and pulpit stage surmounted by organ pipes – this chapter asserts that this extraordinary architectural transformation bears witness to significant changes in Protestant evangelicalism over the course of the century. Demonstrating that religious buildings, like other types of sacred space, embody a variety of cultural, social, and religious meanings, the chapter presents an illustrative overview of Protestant architecture since the Reformation, emphasizing, in particular, the ways in which cultural and religious authority have been negotiated by clergy and laity within church buildings. Important meanings and processes continue to inform church buildings, thus making them vital texts in the study of religious change.
Keywords: architecture, auditorium, church, Evangelicalism, meetinghouses, Reformation, sacred, space
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
