Mormons: Do you have windows in your churches?

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Eliza10

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I mean, in the worship/sanctuary part? Because I visited my friend’s Mormon church, and I noticed there were no windows where the service was held. There was nice lighting, and nice soft paint colors, and lots of window-like places with nice pale green drapes, but no windows. On second thought there might have been some windows high up that let light in but you could not look out of. But I am not sure. The building itself had plenty of windows, but the worship room was on the “inside” and only opened to the hall. Later I saw a picture of Mormons worshipping in their church, and it looked the same. So I wondered if this was the typical style of the Mormon churches, and why. (Jehovah’s Witnesses always look like fortresses, with no windows and few doors, but that is so they have a safe place to bunker down in the last days, I understand.)
 
What exactly is your point here? Are churches required to have windows? :confused:
 
I don’t have a point. I’m asking a question. What is the point of no windows?
 
Eliza10 said:
I mean, in the worship/sanctuary part? Because I visited my friend’s Mormon church, and I noticed there were no windows where the service was held. There was nice lighting, and nice soft paint colors, and lots of window-like places with nice pale green drapes, but no windows. On second thought there might have been some windows high up that let light in but you could not look out of. But I am not sure. The building itself had plenty of windows, but the worship room was on the “inside” and only opened to the hall. Later I saw a picture of Mormons worshipping in their church, and it looked the same. So I wondered if this was the typical style of the Mormon churches, and why. (Jehovah’s Witnesses always look like fortresses, with no windows and few doors, but that is so they have a safe place to bunker down in the last days, I understand.)
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Eliza10,
There is a pretty simple answer to your question: Energy efficiency. The design of most current LDS churches places windows in the classrooms on the periphery of the buildings, with the “sanctuary” or “chapel” in the center of the buildings along with a “cultural hall” that can also serve as overflow seating space. Many older buildings have windows in the sanctuary, sometimes a stained glass window.

LDS temples have windows, sometimes stained glass, in the Celestial room and in other rooms such as sealing rooms and the hallways.

Interesting question. 'Hope this has answered it. Have a good day.
 
ParkerD said:
Eliza10,
There is a pretty simple answer to your question: Energy efficiency. The design of most current LDS churches places windows in the classrooms on the periphery of the buildings, with the “sanctuary” or “chapel” in the center of the buildings along with a “cultural hall” that can also serve as overflow seating space. Many older buildings have windows in the sanctuary, sometimes a stained glass window.

LDS temples have windows, sometimes stained glass, in the Celestial room and in other rooms such as sealing rooms and the hallways.

Interesting question. 'Hope this has answered it. Have a good day.
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I’m not convinced energy efficiency is the only answer. There must be a theological reason to have that much uniformity in the style of the worship chapels. (I realize there are other architectural norms in the temples; I was inquiring about chapel architecture).
 
So you see, there MUST be a theological reason. Not energy effiiency like you see in 1970s houses.
 
As I understand from Mormon friends…it has nothing to do with theology…it has to do with building chapels the most economical. If you notice most LDS chapels are of a uniform design…not only does this save on architectural costs…but it lends a uniformity to most chapels, easily recongnizeable as LDS…nothing as “sinister” as a hidden theological reason they do not wish to share.🙂 Simple economics/ergonimics/energy efficiency. Mormons seek to be stewards of their resources, and uniformity of architectural design is ONE way of accomplishing this.
 
Eliza10 said:
http://www.alamedainfo.com/Mormon_Chapel_NW_corner_Grand_Encinal_Interior_CFC.jpg

Inside the Mormon Taberncacle:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Mormon_Tabernacle_Interior_1897.jpg
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The tabernacle has windows around the periphery. The chapel picture you showed has windows, some tinted. Drapes or curtains are often used. I’ve never heard of any “theological reason” for or against windows in LDS buildings, but serenity, beauty, design efficiency, energy efficiency, and so forth are factors in how the building architecture is planned.
 
Publisher said:
As I understand from Mormon friends…it has nothing to do with theology…it has to do with building chapels the most economical. If you notice most LDS chapels are of a uniform design…not only does this save on architectural costs…but it lends a uniformity to most chapels, easily recongnizeable as LDS…nothing as “sinister” as a hidden theological reason they do not wish to share.🙂 Simple economics/ergonimics/energy efficiency. Mormons seek to be stewards of their resources, and uniformity of architectural design is ONE way of accomplishing this.
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I am finding this answer unsatisfactory as well.

I am *not *saying it is a sinister theological reason, but that it must be a theological reason.

And I do not think that your Mormon friends or the posters to this thread are “keeping a secret” from us about it, one that they do not wish to share, either. I do think they just don’t know, because they weren’t involved in the planning of the buildings, or that no one ever told them, so they just don’t know.

Perhaps they have a “who can know and who cares” point of view about it. That point of view might be cultural. And another thing that might be cultural is being quick to give an authoritative-sounding answer when you are really just guessing. I don’t mean to be critical. I am just trying to understand.
 
:rolleyes:

I was LDS and now Catholic. There is no theological reason for this.

Not everything has some hidden, satanic reason.
 
Eliza10 said:
I’m not convinced energy efficiency is the only answer. There must be a theological reason to have that much uniformity in the style of the worship chapels. (I realize there are other architectural norms in the temples; I was inquiring about chapel architecture).
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I think you may be asking if there is some theological reason–there isn’t. It is simply the most efficient way to build so as to make the best use of space, for newer buildings. I have to admit, your question caught me a little; I’d never even thought about it before. It just seemed, well, fairly natural to me (doesn’t everything you grow up with seem natural?)

We walk into the building, there is generally a large foyer with halls; the classrooms line the exterior walls, and all have windows. The large center area has the chapel/recreation hall in it, and there is generally, in the four corners of the building, (especially those buildings that are also ‘stake centers’ and thus larger) the bigger meeting rooms such as the Primary, the Relief Society, Kitchen and other larger meeting rooms. Thinking about it, I believe that most of the chapels I’ve been in have at least one door that leads directly outside, with windows–generally to the front of the chapel. I’ve usually only seen that door used during funerals, for the convenience of the funeral home, I guess. (shrug)

It all seems to be about architecture, not theology. It is true that most LDS chapels are very similar to one another; cuts the cost down. We do, after all, insist that the building and land be paid for before it is dedicated.

Here is an article in the SLT about this very thing, with some pictures of older LDS chapels. It might give you some insight into the topic.

Two things might be of interest: first, as the article mentions, renovating older buildings can cause all sorts of problems with the local authorities; I’ve run into this personally–and I’ll bet you that Catholics have many of the same problems; preserving old churches means retrofitting against earthquakes and other natural disasters, and is extremely cost prohibitive. So is getting a new permit to build a new building. Here in California, for instance, the sheer difficulty of getting permits past the environmental studies and the building codes is so high that once the church finds a style that makes the government happy (earthquake safe, building code safe…) that style gets recycled. A lot.

The style of building you are questioning (larger meeting areas in the center, windowed classrooms on the outside) is VERY earthquake resistant, and is, for that matter, also hurricane resistant and tornado resistant; local LDS churches are often recommended as shelters.

So…why don’t we have more windows in the chapels? Basically? More bang for the buck.
 
Religio71 said:
:rolleyes:

I was LDS and now Catholic. There is no theological reason for this.

Not everything has some hidden, satanic reason.
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Wow. I am NOT looking for a sinister or satanic reason. I am only looking for a reason. There is a reason, or there wouldn’t be a uniformity over space and time. I am sure its a theological one, since it is a church.

And congratulations on your conversion, Religio71! Praise God. I am a convert from Evangelical Christianity. I am grateful for my introduction to Jesus and the fellowship and teaching that helped me grow closer to Our Lord. I am sure you feel grateful to the Mormon Church for simular reasons.
 
Eliza10 said:
Wow. I am NOT looking for a sinister or satanic reason. I am only looking for a reason. There is a reason, or there wouldn’t be a uniformity over space and time. I am sure its a theological one, since it is a church.
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I would say that the “theological” reason is good stewardship of the land, money and the environment. Mormons are very much into stewardship…stewardship is a theological reason…isn’t it?🙂

It is for Friends…“walk gently upon the Earth…”
 
Eliza10 said:
I am finding this answer unsatisfactory as well.

I am *not *saying it is a sinister theological reason, but that it must be a theological reason.
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Well, if there is, I don’t know what it would be…and since I’m fairly familiar with the tenets and doctrines of my own faith, I think it’s safe for you to dismiss that. I do have a question: WHY must there be a theological reason?
Eliza10 said:
And I do not think that your Mormon friends or the posters to this thread are “keeping a secret” from us about it, one that they do not wish to share, either. I do think they just don’t know, because they weren’t involved in the planning of the buildings, or that no one ever told them, so they just don’t know.

Perhaps they have a “who can know and who cares” point of view about it. That point of view might be cultural. And another thing that might be cultural is being quick to give an authoritative-sounding answer when you are really just guessing. I don’t mean to be critical. I am just trying to understand.
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Actually, you made me curious. Oh, not about whether there is a theological reason; there isn’t. Why am I so certain about that?

Well, because the design of our Temples is such that every symbol in it has a theological reason. (most of 'em, anyway…) They are rich in symbology, and even those elements that do not actually BEGIN with a symbolic meaning, soon acquire one; like a recent question about why the statues of Moroni all face east. (they don’t, actually…) If there isn’t a meaning, we’ll find one and apply it.

But that is not true of our meeting houses. Those are very workaday buildings, quite literally. We meet in them on Sundays, and keep them pretty busy during the week, as well. They are practical places; we pray and worship in them, yes, but we also play basketball, attend classes, learn to can peaches, hold weddings, funerals and dances, perform plays, concerts and festivals; donate their use for community events (or used to, before the government got all nervous about that sort of thing) hold scouting meetings, AA meetings,…all sorts of stuff. The carpets are industrial. We have to make certain that the basket ball hoops are stowed safely against the ceiling before we open up the extra seating for Sundays. We worry more about acoustics than windows in the chapels; more about glass breakage than spiritual enlightenment in the cultural hall. (shrug)

So, as to your statement that there must be a theological reason…well…no there mustn’t.

So…what is the reason? I went to my cousin, who is an architect who worked for the church, and asked him. The answer is very plebian, and very practical; the church looked at the strictest building codes in the world (California’s, as it happens…) and designed a set of basic plans that would satisfy THOSE codes. The reasoning was that if it made California happy, nobody else could complain much, safety wise. For protection from natural disasters, the best arrangement was—put the large meeting space in the center, surround it with the smaller windowed classrooms.

Sorry that the answer is that boring, though. Even I was hoping for something a little more, oh, mysterious or romantic or something.
 
Eliza10 said:
Wow. I am NOT looking for a sinister or satanic reason. I am only looking for a reason. There is a reason, or there wouldn’t be a uniformity over space and time. I am sure its a theological one, since it is a church.

And congratulations on your conversion, Religio71! Praise God. I am a convert from Evangelical Christianity. I am grateful for my introduction to Jesus and the fellowship and teaching that helped me grow closer to Our Lord. I am sure you feel grateful to the Mormon Church for simular reasons.
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Thanks 👍

I just think that you seem to not be satisfied with the answers already given, when it is nothing more than what other people have said. Suffice to say that there are no theological reasons behind this.
 
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