Inside / Outside

By David Kitchingman in All Sorts

David gains a different perspective from the church roof!

Inside/Outside

Hi Jo

As you know, I spend a fair bit of time at church - normally inside it, of course. But in recent months I've spent rather more of that time outside it, though not by very much - maybe by about a foot on average.

You see, a group of us has just finished painting the exterior walls and roof of the church. We repainted the roof green, but it's not yet a green roof. I mean not in the latest sense of the phrase. So it missed out on getting a layer of living vegetation as an ecological contribution. Nor, for that matter, did we consider joining The White Roofs Project NZ, promoted as the fastest way of reducing global warming. As a congregation we might have earned an environmental award for our Streamscape Project but our consciousness raising has only gone so far. So we didn't install solar panels either.

Be that as it may, being (rather than having) one foot outside the church made quite a difference to a number of my perceptions. In comparison with being inside the church, I noticed that -
On the outside:

-- The elements are more raw and fluctuating. The unexpected seems less unlikely. What if a 7.1 earthquake were to strike the 80-year old two-storey brick hall? There are constant reminders of the ancient derivation of the terms "spirit" and "spiritual" from breath and wind, though I'm not sure where the wind-chill factor fits in. Temperatures seesaw. Paint may immediately steam on contact with hot iron and within an hour or so run with the cold. Inside is cosy and sheltered. We don't want a draught .We complain if the heaters weren't turned on early enough.

-- The outlook is more stark and vast. From even our modest Mornington vantage point there are sweeping vistas of the Pacific Ocean, the Otago Harbour, and the main peaks of the Dunedin volcano, dwarfing the cluster of other buildings that surround us. The whole wide world is very present and pressing. Inside, our church is beautifully constructed and embellished, with an emphasis on the culture and history of the Christian faith.

-- Even the human impact is less restrained and more variable. A fellow member calls out, "Say one for me while you're up there." A driver, frustrated at our obstruction of his preferred off-loading zone in the church car park, indulges in yelling out an unrepeatable version of road rage. Meanwhile, within the working bee itself, we get to know each other in ways that would be impossible in a month of ordinary Sundays and services. Inside we are more polite and predictable. The seats are comfortable. We take it easy.

In summary, when even just a foot outside the church, you may be perched up high but you don't rule the roost. Gravity and the weather dictate the terms.

Four weeks ago in the "Connections" column, Aelred Edmunds wrote about the outdoor markets, saying that he often sees them as in some senses "a church in the open air". He was encouraging us to recognise Christ in such environments, present as much outside as inside.

To that we might now add, "Admit more of the outside inside." Sanctuaries meet the need for protection and even a little privacy. But they risk smothering the spirit. There's a phrase beloved of real estate salespersons - "indoor/outdoor flow". It's very fashionable for domestic architecture but barely thought of in church design. While on the roof, I've sometimes wondered, "What should we do if we had to start all over again?"

Not so long ago a committee within our Parish asked members a series of questions about what form of service best meets our needs and the needs of those we want to attract to our church. Is this the time to fine-tune our worship or is it an opportunity to consider turning some things inside out? One example. What if a working bee model (broadly conceived - not necessarily physical work) were introduced as an occasional component of a valid form of service?

I've noticed some rather radical signals in recent communications from our national church's eMessenger. Jim Stuart's morning devotions at the Annual Conference in Palmerston North at the beginning of November touched on plate tectonics and the earth as a living system. He argued that the church needs to "Wake up to the Quake" and to respond creatively to the changes taking place in society.

And from a science analogy to a business one. The newly established Public Questions Network's convener, Michael Dymond, quoted thoughts from David Bush. "Change is happening all round us but as church we tend not to respond. If we do then we are more likely to try to play the same old game better rather than playing the game differently."

There's a wider and different world just out there. The thermometers and anemometers are busier outside. The colossus of the cosmos has an outpost at our door. There's a maelstrom of fun and fury and multiple faiths. Is it time to turn some things inside out - and even some things outside in?

-- David Kitchingman

First published as a Connections article in the Parish Weekly Bulletin, Nov. 21, 2010.