Church Architecture

Churches are many things to us—they are places of worship, vibrant community hubs and oases of calm reflection. To know a church is to hold a key to the past that unlocks an understanding of our shared history. Andrew Ziminski has spent decades as a stonemason and church conservator, acting as an informal guide to curious visitors. Church Going is his handbook to the medieval churches of the British Isles, in which he reveals their fascinating histories, features and furnishings, from flying buttresses to rood screens, lichgates to chancels.

The audioguide tells the story, describes architecture and reports interesting facts about the basilica of Santa Maria in Domnica, located in Rome, on the summit of Monte Celio. Particular attention is paid to the decoration of the central apse. They lively colors are striking, especially since many of the mosaics, of the apse, date back to the 9th century and represent work from the Byzantine school.

It’s time to break free from our Sunday-centric, formulaic versions of church and instead architect fresh kingdom ecosystems as an ancient yet new frontier for sustainable mission. The temptation for many church leaders is to take what’s worked elsewhere and use it as a paint-by-number. Yet Jesus showed us a different way. Every word he spoke and everything he did utterly broke the molds, rules, and laws that people had created to confine God and his kingdom.