The Architecture of the Church

Excerpted from First Presbyterian Church of Sun City 1963-1998, Thirty-Five Years of Spiritual Life.

Dr. Emil Fischer, distinguished architect and member of Session, wrote the following notes on the architecture of First Presbyterian Church of Sun City:

"Before we examine the architecture of the First Presbyterian Church, let's turn back the pages of history and briefly examine the characteristics of the religious architecture developed by the Early Christians.

"The Roman Emperor Constantine had eliminated religious persecution by the end of the Fourth Century A.D. and the number of converts to Christianity rapidly increased.  At this time, however, the over-extended Roman Empire was being weakened by a conbination of infiltrations by barbarous tribes, rising inflation and decreasing loyalty of the armed forces.  When Constantine moved the Capitol from Rome to Contantinople (now Istanbul), several government structures in Italy were abandoned.  One of these structures, the Basilica, previously used by the Romans as a court of law, could easily be converted into an enclosure for Christian worship.  The raised semi-circular end, called the Bema, where judges and jurors sat became the location for the preacher and elders.  The Christians renamed this area the Sanctuary.  The side entrance was relocated to the opposite end and a standard plan for the Christian service developed - the Basilica plan.  When services became more elaborate and attendance increased, Transepts were added.  Now the plan resembled the Latin cross.  Clement of Rome likened the struggling church as a ship engaged in a violent storm.  The main body of the church serving the congregation was called the 'Nave' from the Latin 'Navis,' meaning ship.  When new churches were built, this plan was oriented to permit worshipers to face east - face Jerusalem.

"Now we are ready to enter our church.  As we pass through the Narthex and enter the Nave, we find ourselves not only entering a traditional basilica arrangement but, as we walk to our pew, we are also facing Jerusalem.

"Christ and his disciples delivered their message of one God, forgiveness and love on rocky hillsides sheltered by the tall cedars of Lebanon.  These natural objects of God's creation provided an ideal environment to reinforce 'the message.'

"When architect Brown, a member of this congregation, designed our church in 1968, he obviously attempted to create an interior that would recall this environment.  He limited materials to wood and stone, and assembled them in a very simple, honest manner.  In 1972 the interior was enlarged and a transept was added.

"The Reformation replaced the Altar with the Communion Table and this feature in our church, flanked by the pulpit and choir, is silhouetted against a massive wall of stone.

"Laminated wood rafters, firmly anchored into stone buttresses, support the naturally-finished wood planks that form the roof and ceiling.  The roof is self-supporting.  It does not rely on walls for support.  Roof rafters are anchored onto stone buttresses, visible to the congregation, on the south side of the Nave and sweep over the truncated stone wall on the north to be secured by exterior stone buttresses.  This unique arrangement provides considerable flexibility.  The non-bearing walls flanking the Nave may be removed, relocated, or the material changed without affecting the structure.  The exposed structure of natural materials, honestly expressed, is also a subtle reminder of the environment experienced by those Galilieans as they assembled on the rock-strewn, tree-sheltered hillsides.

"Individual light fixtures, suspended from the ceiling in many churches, not only create disturbing distractions, but often interfere with the ability to look up and see the pastor in the pulpit.  The sources of illumination in the First Presbyterian Church are concealed in troughs and the light reflected by the sloping ceiling.  Consequently, the congregation is bathed in light approximating daylight.

"By the Seventh Century A.D., bells were rung to summon the faithful.  At that time, especially in Italy, these bells were housed in towers separated from the church.  We are aware of the continuance of this tradition when we visit Florence or the Church of St. Marks in Venice.  The architectural composition of the First Presbyterian Church also follows this tradition.  Our bell tower, or Campanile as it was originally named, greets us as we approach the main entrance.

"The asymmetrical design of the roof should probably be clarified.  The pitch of the north roof slope allows the rafters to clear the stone wall and become secured on the exterior buttresses.  If the south slope reflected the same pitch, the rafters would penetrate the room adjacent to the south side of the church, so the architect increased the pitch of these rafters and anchored them in the Nave.  If the pitch of both slopes was decreased to obtain symmetry, we would bump our heads on the rafters as we entered a pew from the south side aisle.

"Winston Chruchill once remarked - 'Man shapes the building, but then the building shapes us.'  As we assemble each Sunday to hear God's message in word and song, we are subconsiously affected by this environment.  God provided the materials and man assembled them in a simple, honest manner.  When our pastors address us on Sundays in this unpretentious enclosure of wood and stone, may we empathize with those brave apostles preaching 'the message' to the faithful gathered on the tree-sheltered rocky slopes of the Galilean countryside."