Second Virginia Conference on Sacred Space

The Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architect’s Interfaith Forum on Religion Art and Architecture will be offering a day-long conference called The Nature of Sacred Space: Context and Culture on November 6, 2009 in Richmond.  It’s part of the larger VSAIA annual meeting that concludes on the same day.  This is the second such opportunity organized by the group in as many years.

The program features a first-rate list of speakers: Paul Braoudokis (Willow Creek), Mel McGowan, AIA (Visioneering Studios), Mark Torgerson (Notre Dame), James Williamson, FAIA (Askew Nixon Ferguson) and Tom Findley, FAIA (Leo A. Daly Architects).

Download the IFRAA Press Release and a detailed Schedule (PDF)

SAR Session to Assess Interest in Architecture for Ministry

This year’s South Atlantic Regional Conference of the American Institute of Architects in Greenville, SC will include a special Architecture for Ministry “event”.  The biannual conference is from September 30-October 4, 2009 and includes architects from Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.  The meeting, at 5:00 pm on October 1, is described in the Conference program:

This session is organized to explore interest in a regional knowledge community committed to exploring the role of the built environment in Christian worship and ministry. The desire of Architecture for Ministry as currently envisioned is to encourage discussion and learning among design and building professionals, their consultants and ministry leaders.

Find out more and register at AIA South Carolina’s website.

Conference to Explore Reformed Tradition in Worship

A February conference organized by Erskine Theological Seminary and co-sponsored by Architecture for Ministry will explore the intersection of architecture, theology and worship.   The Architectural Setting of Christian Worship, February 5-7, 2009 at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA, features Dr. David Gobel, a professor of architectural history at Savannah College of Art and Design, Dr. Terry Johnson, Senior Minister at Independent, and Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old and Dr. Mark Ross, both of Erskine.

The title sessions include the following, along with tours of Savannah churches.

• Temple or Meetinghouse? Church Building in Historical Perspective
• How Lovely Is Thy Dwelling Place, O Lord of Hosts
• Architectural Hermeneutics: An approach to ‘reading’ architecture as a built language
• The Stones Cry Out: Architecture and Theology
• The Architectural Setting of Christian Worship: A Reformed approach to church architecture
• Architecture and the Holy Spirit
• The City of God in the City of Man
• Images of Divine Things
  

Erskine Theological Seminary is an educational institution of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The conference is open to students, pastors, architects and others with interest in church design.  Continuing Education credit will be available for architects.

Listen to Conference Proceedings