Does a holy site contain some innate spiritual power? Must we build a synagogue or cathedral at that site to feel close to God? Do Jewish and Protestant houses of worship have anything in common? On February 20, more than 60 clergy and scholars met in Pasadena to study these questions with one of the world’s most fascinating “spiritual tourists,” architect Jeff Greene.
The seminar and luncheon, “Sacred Spaces II,” was hosted by First Church of the Nazarene Pasadena (aka “PazNaz”) and its senior pastor, T. Scott Daniels. The Board of Rabbis of Southern California/The Jewish Federation organized the program in partnership with Fuller Theological Seminary. Members of the Jewish, Mormon, Presbyterian, Baptist and other faiths participated—as well as architecture enthusiasts.
“I’m a spiritual tourist,” said keynote speaker and restoration expert Jeff Greene of EverGreene Architectural Arts in New York—showing slides of his travels to sacred sites such as Delphi in Greece, Lourdes in France, and Tibet. “When I come to a place like Mount Sinai, or Ayres Rock in Australia, I feel something—and I don’t know exactly what it is . . . There are as many expressions of the sacred as there are human emotions.”
Greene’s portfolio has included work on the recent Wilshire Boulevard Temple dome restoration, the 20-year revival of Eldridge Street Synagogue on New York’s Lower East Side, and the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. One of the country’s foremost experts in murals, ornamental plaster and decorative finishes, he also travels the world as a musician.
“I always start [a project] by asking a church or synagogue board, ‘Do you want your space to feel like Home? Or transcendent?’ ” Greene said.
Scholars from Fuller Theological Seminary said they found great inspiration in Greene’s PowerPoint presentation and pilgrimage anecdotes. Dr. Richard Mouw, seminary president, celebrated the opportunity for collaboration. “These interfaith dialogues with the Board of Rabbis have enriched our efforts to understand the whole Bible,” said Mouw, a philosopher, scholar and author who has helmed the seminary since 1993.
At the lunchtime panel discussion, Dr. William Dyrness, professor of theology and culture at Fuller, noted that Protestantism doesn’t include belief in sacred space—because all space is sacred. Sparseness is a sacred style in itself, he noted. Dr. Joshua Holo, dean of the LA campus at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, then underscored the nature of sacred “borrowing” by noting the numerous 19th- and 20th-century Moorish-style synagogues. These buildings were a Jewish attempt to differentiate from Christianity, Holo said—even though Islam had borrowed that very style from early Christian churches!
Jonathan Freund, interim executive director of the Board of Rabbis, closed the program by offering a midrash in which God bemoaned the Israelites’ completion of the mishkan, the tabernacle: As long as “My children were busy building the Tabernacle, The Holy One said, ‘they did not complain to Me. Now that they’re finished, they’re going to grumble again.’ ” [Tanhuma, Naso 12] We learn from this, Freund said, “Always keep building!”
