The church pictured to the right here, Community Christian Church (CCC) in Illinois, is actually quite good. I worshiped there for a while about seven years ago, and have some fond memories of the place. It just happens to look like a giant yellow box, which is what they affectionately call it.

Recently, the Aesthetic Elevator wrote about the effect that our surroundings have on us when we worship. I point CCC out because as church buildings go, this one is rather utilitarian.

“What if there’s something to people’s expressed (or unexpressed) distaste for certain aspects of a church service or building?”

What if such complaints are an affirmation of the importance of beauty, of aesthetics?

Generally speaking, I don’t condone church-hopping on account of ugly carpet or even redundant praise and worship music (a pet peeve of mine)...But the fact is that our environment does influence us and music is an enigmatically powerful art. The fact also remains that different people will always own different aesthetics, and attempting to satisfy all at the same time is unrealistic.
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I’ve quoted Architect Daniel Lee before, and I’ll do it again here:

“It is possible to worship God in a gymnasium or lecture hall, because if people are truly seeking him, God will meet them there. But to worship in such architecture is to suggest that our purpose is either recreational or cerebral. We should build spaces crafted specially for a human-divine encounter with God.”

How much do the aesthetics of your surroundings contribute to your worship experience? Other thoughts?