Last night I watched my school burn. It’s not actually my school but somehow I feel an enormous attachment to it. My children are educated there, I walk past it every day and even as I sit at my window I can see the charred remains of its ancient towers. The fire is a tragedy for the pupils , some of who have lost two years work for their exams, for the staff and for the whole community.
Morgan Academy was/is one of the grandest buildings in Dundee. Built in 1868 as the Morgan hospital, following a £100,000 bequest form John Morgan, an indigo planter in India, the school was one of the most prominent landmarks in Dundee. Its grand Gothic style is something that no modern building can touch. In this utilitarian age who wants to build towers and turrets? But it is not only utilitarian modernist sixties town planners who scorn such grandeur and beauty; there are Christian philistines as well. Who needs fancy buildings when they are all going to be destroyed come the Day of Judgment? Why have beauty and grandeur when you can build a church/home/school/government building for half the cost? Why waste good money which could be spent on providing for the poor?
Doubtless there is some truth in these arguments. As there was when Judas complained that the money used to buy the expensive perfume poured out on Jesus’ feet could have been used to provide for the poor. But this attitude often displays a very weak theology as well as sometimes hypocrisy. Carried to its logical conclusion it would mean that we would all be dressed in sackcloth and live in tents. Let us reflect for a moment on the place of buildings and of beauty in our life’s.
When I was young I used to have the radical view (so I thought) that buildings did not matter , it was people that counted. Now I realize that it is because people matter that buildings are important. They provide shelter and warmth for us. We live, work, play and worship in them. Most of the readers of this column are not nomads wandering in some ancient desert wilderness. Buildings are essential for us.
But why should they be beautiful? Why should they just not be functional? Because we are made in Gods image. Because as human beings we reflect that image by having a sense of beauty and because we have a desire to reflect the glory of our Creator by producing beauty. Think of it this way. How many of you have been inspired and moved by rows and rows of utilitarian Eastern block style housing? Why do people like to visit Paris? Does it not have something to do with the fabulous beauty of the architecture? Take the Morgan. One assumes that it is going to be rebuilt. The City Council have promised at least that ‘a school’ will be built on the site. In order to save money one could build a concrete block – a rectangle which would be warm, modern, functional and perfectly adequate for teaching pupils. Except that it would be a blight on the landscape and would be so soul destroying as to deserve the vandalism and graffiti that would undoubtedly come its way. No, the Council must do what it can to preserve what is left of the façade of the building and painstakingly recreate the architectural beauty of the original whilst building a modern interior. In that way we will end up with the best of both worlds. For those politicians who quibble about the cost all we have to do is point out that the Scottish Parliament has voted to build itself a £250 million building when the one it had was perfectly adequate. £250 million for 100 politicians makes £10 million for 1,000 school pupils appear a positive bargain.
What about churches? Should we build cathedrals or portacabins? Should we even have buildings at all? It is of course essential to recognize that the Church is not the building but rather the people. There were no New Testament church buildings. But assuming that this is a matter where the Lord allows us to overlook the strictest application of the regulative principle (that nothing is to be introduced into the worship of God, except what God has specifically commanded) and we decide to worship in a building set aside for that purpose – what kind of buildings should these be? They should be functional – suitable not only for the gathering of the Lord’s people on the Lord’s Day but also for use by the whole community throughout the week. They should also be beautiful. Buildings reflect something of who we are and indeed who we worship. Beauty, order, practicality, caring should all be reflected in our structures. Every modern building for example, should make adequate provision for the handicapped and elderly. Beauty can of course be done without ostentation and wasteful extravagance. I have visited American churches which scream out a message of wealth and power – a message which says you are welcome here if you are part of our social class but not if you are the poor. That may not be the intended message but it still comes across loud and clear. When we build we need to reflect the attitude that we are building for the Lord (not to keep up with the Jones’s or the Methodists or the Baptists) and that our building is to be used for outreach in the whole community. We live in a society where very few buildings are built to last like medieval cathedrals. So let’s make sure that we maintain the old cathedrals and that when we build, we build simple, beautiful and functional churches.
Which brings me to Mr Henderson. Mr Henderson is one of my daughter’s teachers. He is a fine teacher with whom she likes to debate evolution. Two days ago he told a boy in his class – ‘this school will last one hundred years – it will only eventually rot away’. I met Mr Henderson that night. Standing outside the blazing school being accosted by the aforementioned boy – ‘thought it was going to last forever’ he cried. A somewhat sheepish science teacher shrugged his shoulders. Life is short. And temporary. Whilst in this life we reflect the beauty of God by creating beautiful things, we ought always to remember that it is all temporary, it is all but a reflection. One day we shall see the King in all his beauty, in the city built not with human hands.
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