Worthy ambassadors: Attending the theology expressed by Protestant church architecture of the Modern Era

The purpose of the Field Research Project is to answer the research question, “Describe how Protestant Modern Era churches that were intentionally theologically planned are apprehended by those who currently call them their spiritual home in comparison to the intended advocation?” Use of a questionnaire submitted to each of the participants in preparation for a “guided conversation” conducted and taped with the interviewee by the researcher answered the question.; Invitations to participate in the project were made by telephone to those whose names were suggested by the minister and the Official Board of the participating congregations, having met the requirement of not being present at the time of the structure's inception. From the names suggested nine individuals were selected, three from each congregation that was participating in the study. The participants met the criteria of not having been present at the time of the buildings inception nor had they read any documents or data concerning the theological plan of their church.; The thesis includes an extensive discussion of the theology of appropriate places of worship constructed by congregations of the Reformed tradition between the conclusion of the Second World War and the year 1972. It traces the theological innovations as they manifested themselves in the church architecture of the new tradition with a particular emphasis on the Reformed temples of France prior to the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The distinction of the two primary theological traditions of worship space, the Dommus Dei and the Dommus Ecclesia were examined. The discussion concludes with an examination of the hermeneutical principles as they apply to sacred architecture of the Modern Era and its apprehension by the members of the congregations.; Examining transcriptions of approximately one hour interviews with participants as well as biographical material from the written questionnaire the author observed thirteen themes that expressed the theological concerns of both the architect and the planning committee and the theological concerns of the period, with an emphasis on the writing of Edward A. Sovik, that were extant in the transcriptions of the interviews. The transcriptions afford the apprehension of three categories of hermeneutic that were extensions of the research of Lindsay Jones.; This thesis includes full transcriptions of the guided conversations with the nine participants.