Featured Steeples

I vote no steeple. I always thought they started that as an easy way to be the tallest building in town.

 

Interesting comments in this thread. Some of which surprised me, although by now I shouldn't be surprised at anything anymore.

First, I didn't read the links posted in the OP, so these comments are based soley on my preceptions, be they right or wrong.

The beam of light from atop a lighthouse is a beacon of hope and help to those who may be struggling life's stormy seas. During daylight hours, when the light isn't piercing the dark, that tower can still be seen from afar to help guide ships to safe harbor.

The scriptures teach us not to conform to the world. To stand apart in our words and deeds. Also teach us to put on the armour of God to withstand the arrows of wickedness hurled at us.

We, as Christans, often rant and rave about God's word being taken from the public square. There are tears in our heart because children can no longer pray or read the 10 Commandments in their school rooms. We grieve when an upside down cross in a jar of urine is considered to be art and our tax dollars are given in support of "art".

Yet, we as Christians often don't see the need to lift the cross high upon a church steeple as a beacon of hope to a lost, storm tossed, world. Are we hiding our light under a bushel, as churches blend into the sea of structures around us? How can the lost find a safe harbor when the lighthouse has a nondescript name and the cross no longer has a steeple to lift it.

I'm thinking about the agony our Saviour suffered as He carried His cross before being nailed upon it. I'm thinking about how little I can comprehend of what He endured when He took my sin upon Himself. And, of every other born again believer who exists (existed, will exist) upon this earth.

I'm thinking about being a witness to Him when I was baptised in His name. I'm thinking about remembering, during communion, what He freely gave while on the cross, to anyone who will accept His gift of eternal life. And, remembering He asked that we pick up our crosses and follow Him.

The cross is symbolic of all He did and of what He asked of us. It is also symbolic that we, indeed, have put on the the armour of God.

Yet, some of those assembled, in His name, no longer see any reason to lift His symbol for the unsaved peoples to see. I want to cry when expense is used as an excuse. These days, in this country, in a church without a steeple, is there an audio/video system? Has HVAC been installed for creature comfort? How much was spent on dining facilities, nurseries, carpet, soft pews, landscaping, and a host of similar things?

In closing, an assembly of members of the body of Christ do not have to have a building to enclose them. Here in the south, in the past, there have been many services conducted under the shade of trees and bush arbors. As little, one room, country churches were built, the highest point of the building was a cross. Regardless of how crude the construction, how poor the congregation, that cross upon a steeple served as a lighthouse to help guide lost souls to safe harbor.

 

Very passionately expressed.

I have to disagree agreeably with you on this one. I'm a "storefront, plastic chairs, music stand for a pulpit and Bibles church" guy myself. I wince when I see the millions of $ spent on prettifying buildings (and up-keeping them) that could be spent on getting the Word out instead.

 

1. If a church that is building a building believes that a steeple will give glory to God, and point people to Christ, or to the church, then they have every right to construct a steeple, provided that the congregation who is giving to it supports it and is giving generously to build it.

2. If a church decides that the best way to Glorify God is to NOT have a steeple, either due to context concerns, or because they believe that the steeple money could be better used for some ministry, then they have every right to NOT have a steeple. It doesn't mean they are abandoning the Gospel.

3. For those who believe it is a waste of money, then surely EVERY church expense that is not directly spent on ministry is a waste of money, correct? (Carpet, coffee makers, the cross hanging in the sanctuary, padding for pews, the baseboard trim in every room, lightswitch covers, paint for the walls). Each church must decide how to spend the money entrusted to it, and they will come to different decisions.

 

Your post in a nutshell. I agree 100%.

 

I read somewhere that the the original reason for the steeple was to get people to look up....

"from whence our help shall come"

 

On this, I suspect that we agree far more than we disagree.

I'm sure that I am as strongly opposed to "Crystal Cathedrals" as you may be. I wince, right along with you, as I see some local churches striving to emulate "Crystal Cathedrals" for the same reason that you do.

My emphasis and passion isn't on steeples that require grand price tags to complement their grandeur in construction. If the physical structure of a church building will permit, it can cost little to no $ to add a simple plywood steeple topped with a 2x4 cross. Donated/salvaged materials doesn't have to take anything from the coffers of a church. Fellowship among members is one of the purposes for assembly of believers. Fellowship can include hammers, nails, and paint brushes along side covered dish casseroles.

We sometimes go to a store converted to a church for their Tuesday evening services. Until recently their pews were lawn chairs, kitchen chairs, and others of similar design. Not long ago, one of the members found a bargain and bought used matching office side chairs at $5/ea to replace the lawn chairs. Pulpit is definitely homemade. The store, now a church, is topped with a cross. Eventually, they'll have/build a small cupola topped with that cross for their "steeple".

With efforts that came from the heart and not the pocketbook, people driving past this store know, without a doubt, that it is a place of worship of our Lord. Where 2 or 3 are gathered is unmistaken when we sit with this small congregation, gathered in His name.

 

I love disagreeing with you. :thumbs:

 

What????????!!!!??!!

What!??!!!!??....No Nursery, choir loft, youth building, gymnasium/family life center, softball field,etc.,etc(or by all means a STEEPLE).....now Bro.Curtis....how could that possibly be a real New Testament church?:laugh:

Bro.Greg:sleep:

 

I'm With Ya Bro.Curtis

Bro.Curtis....If ya "scratch" the KJV....I AIN'T coming...even if there is donuts and a coffee maker. I want REAL food.

Bro.Greg

 

That's too bad- you miss some great meals that way.

 

Waste of money.

 

A steeple sitting on top of a modern temple does nothing to bring glory to God. God receives glory from the lives & actions of believers. Nobody is going to look up at a steeple & suddenly rush in under conviction asking, "what must I do to be saved?" A steeple only has value to Christians. It means nothing to the unregenerate. There's not a single verse of Scripture which describes a church building in any form or manner. It's okay to have a building to meet in, but that is not the church & does nothing to aid the winning of the lost. A building is no different than a field or a cave. The only difference is that we name buildings & put unScriptural spiritual significance upon them as though God lived there; waiting for us to meet Him there.

 

Personally Speaking....

...if the church had a steeple, I'd try to get it reworked in a way that would not only please God but bring in additional income for the church by having the steeple serve as both a symbol for the church and a signal tower for cell phones.

Just thinkin' out loud! :type:

 

If a steeple could be built from salvaged materials and church members met together one Saturday morning to build it, would that be a waste, too?

Maybe it's just me and my head isn't screwed on straight.

Perhaps, if this lost world wasn't trying to remove every reference to our LORD from public view, I wouldn't feel as strongly as I do about this issue.

Are places of assembly of members, of the True Church, already yielding to the ungodly pressures of this world to cut down the cross? Just as it was cut down here? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mojave_Memorial_Cross

A while back, some of the members of our church went on a tour of Pigeon Forge, Tenn. While there, we went to a dinner theater and watched a high tech version of the Christmas story. Sound and lighting effects were outstanding. Camels were led down the isles. Angels flew through the air above the audience and snowflakes fell from the ceiling.

Our group visited Dollywood, drove around the valleys at night to see the Festival of Lights, and more. Of all of this, there's one memory that stands out the most. It wasn't that dinner theater experience. It wasn't the lights, nor the "spectacular" sights and sounds at Dollywood.

Tucked away on the backside of that theme park, away from the well beaten path, there was a rustic one room country church with a steeple on top, nestled into the side of a mountain. The time in line to see the Ice Show was an hour and a half. There was wasn't a line in front of this church waiting to hear the testimony of a minister who sang the old fashioned Christmas carols. He began with prayer, quoted the scriptures, as he told the story of our Saviour in song.

The steeple on top of that building is what made it stand out from all of the other "attractions" that surrounded it. Was that steeple a waste of money? No. It was a symbol that drew us, and some others, away from the secular carnival that was "Christmas in the Smokies".

Sitting there on rough hewn benches, we truely heard the Greatest Story Ever Told.

That's the memory I'll retain long after the others fade away.

 

Aside from all the "fluff"

My dear Brother.....I want to thank you for that post....it truly did demonstrate the stark contrast between the fake and artificial and the value of the true "Light of the world". It seems there never is a "line" leading to the "narrow way" but it is still always the best way! May God Bless You and have a merry CHRISTmas.

Bro.Gregraying:

 

I have noticed that the cross on some steeples is so small they are almost unrecognizable. Or perhaps the steeple is just getting too tall; sort of like the tower of Babel!

 

Fabulous Photo...

....there is only one thing I don't like about steeples....the bats in the belfry! I dso not like bats; or snakes; or frogs; or any other creepy crawly creature! :smilewinkgrin:

 

It's even worse when they are in the pews.