Liturgical Space: Christian Worship and Church Buildings in Western Europe 1500–2000 (review)

The late Nigel Yates, who served as professor of ecclesiastical history in the University of Wales at Lampeter, has provided a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of Christian worship and its relationship to religious architecture from the Reformation era to the present. As the author notes in his introduction, the book is intended for four different sorts of readers: church historians; clergy, church staff, and the architects with whom they work; historic preservationists and planners; and what he calls “the growing band of church tourists” (p. 1).

The first chapter begins with a brief survey of Christian religious architecture from its beginnings to the time of the Reformation. Subsequent chapters deal with the four major traditions for whom a built environment for worship was a significant consideration, namely, Lutheran, Calvinist/Reformed, Anglican, and post-Tridentine Roman Catholic. (Anabaptists, who usually worshiped in private homes, are not included, although other sectarian groups such as Quakers and Baptists are.) The final chapters cross denominational lines and focus respectively on the medieval revivals of the nineteenth century and the impact of the liturgical renewal movement of the twentieth. Each section provides considerable detail and case studies—together with valuable floor plans, black-and-white photographs, and outlines of liturgies—with those of different periods in the same tradition juxtaposed in parallel columns.

The writing is generally clear, although it presupposes some knowledge of liturgical and architectural terminology. (A glossary would have been useful.) Although the book skews toward a discussion of British developments, especially in England and Wales, the author acknowledges this perhaps inevitable slant and strives throughout for comprehension and fair-mindedness. Particularly valuable is the work’s interdisciplinary quality: the author continually reminds us that worship and its physical space do not develop independently of each other and stresses the interrelationship among liturgy, space, shape, and ornament.

In its utilization of the author’s own extensive and distinguished scholarship, Liturgical Space makes both an original contribution to the study of Christian worship and its architectural setting while providing a valuable handbook for those wishing to pursue the study of both.