This core module engages students with the issues and demands facing church congregations today with regard to:
Questions of sustainability and maintenance,
Exploring the potential for creative use of their buildings
Considering their potential role in mission and community cohesion
Addressing some of the specifics of practical conservation issues
Looking at the bigger picture of the broader life and purposes of a church community.
Module learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of the module, students will:
Subject content
Equip and animate a generation of individuals who will encourage the church communities with which they are involved to engage better with their buildings.
Understand the principles of the regulatory framework governing change to church buildings, both ecclesiastical and secular, and how these interface.
Have a sound knowledge of the key processes and documents that are involved, such as faculty jurisdiction (in the Church of England), and the attendant requirements for Statements of Significance and Needs.
Using practical examples, they will learn to read a church building for its overlapping layers of significance
Know when and how to commission support from external consultants.
Academic and graduate skills
Provide leadership and direction in project delivery
Gain an understanding of specialist technical language and frameworks
Employ interdisciplinary approaches to interpreting evidence
Demonstrate an ability to engage appropriately with professionals and specialists in different fields
Other learning outcomes (if applicable)
Completion of the module will thus enable students to provide leadership for their own church communities through the processes of assessing the use and significance of their church buildings, including its rootedness (or otherwise) in its local community.
Assessment
Task
Length
% of module mark
Essay/coursework 4000 word essay
N/A
100
Special assessment rules
None
Reassessment
Task
Length
% of module mark
Essay/coursework 4000 word essay
N/A
100
Module feedback
The tutor will give regular individual verbal and written feedback throughout the module on work submitted.
The assessment feedback is as per the university’s guidelines with regard to timings.
Dyas, D. ed. The English Parish Church Through the Centuries: Daily Life and Spirituality, Art and Architecture, Literature and Music. York: Christianity and Culture at the University of York, 2010.
Giles, R. Re-pitching the Tent: The Definitive Guide to Reordering Your Church. Norwich: Canterbury Press, 2010.
Helps, B.E. Church Architecture and Domesticity: The Aftermath. York, 2010
Kieckhefer, R. Theology in Stone: Church Architecture from Byzantium to Berkeley. OUP, 2008.
McAlpine, W. Sacred Space for the Missional Church: Engaging Culture Through the Built Environment, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, 2011.
Rodwell, W. The Archaeology of Churches. Stroud: Amberley, 2013.
Sladen, T. Churches, 1870-1914. London: The Victorian Society, 2011.
Whiting, R. The Reformation of the English Parish Church. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010.