Search Results (9)

One of the essential needs of humans that is influenced by architectural geometry is visibility in indoor areas. Prayer hall geometry dominates the mosque typology and morphology. The spatial–volumetric shapes of interior prayer halls affect worshipers’ visual comfort and spirituality. In this study, a new integrative framework is developed to quantitatively describe various mosque typo-morphologies affecting the visual comfort of worshipers, including spaciousness and consciousness, to obtain prayer hall typo-morphological patterns that may provide higher levels of visual comfort. Spatial and volumetric metrics from various prayer hall vantage points are used in this study. A two-dimensional isovist (VGA) map in depthmapX.10 collects spatial metrics, while the grasshopper script in Rhinoceros-7 collects 3D isovist volumetric metrics. The findings confirm the feasibility of creating a prominent area in barrier-free mosque layout designs centered on a central domed roof form. Full article

In the recent study of Contemporary Praise and Worship (CPW), many studies have focused on musical repertory, including its text, music, and performance, as the foundational text(s) for theoretical analysis. In particular, scholars have relied on lists of the most popular songs that have been reported to Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI). This essay points out several critical weaknesses in the current overreliance on this methodology and instead contends for two underutilized methodologies—liturgical ethnography and liturgical history—that need to be developed in the scholarship. The essay argues that such a cultivation of methodology will enable the burgeoning scholarship on CPW to gain richer insight into the range of theological meaning expressed in CPW contexts. Full article

This paper aims to examine the critical discourse on responses to worship regulations during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Diverse responses emanated from the media, religious leaders, and civil society organizations in the Indonesian context. The wide range of responses to worship regulations is reflected in continuous debate, demonstrating two primary groups, one in support of the government regulations and the other opposed to limitations on congregational worship activities. This shows the need for the proper messaging of content and dissemination to promote behavioral changes relative to relevant health issues. In order to achieve the main objective, we employed a qualitative method involving a discourse analysis of several leading online news sources’ viewpoints, religious leaders’ viewpoints, and religious organizations’ public statements. This study found two main factors associated with the response to worship regulations in the pandemic era. The main finding involved supportive and contradictive orientations. The supportive path indicated a supportive response, referring to the enhancement of the proper analysis of public worship regulations, while the contradictive one referred to the continuation of life as normal, free of restrictions and regulations. This study suggests that clear details on the reasons for restrictions and regulations are required on all forms of social media in order to provide all parties with a better understanding of the need for these measures. Full article

Since 2010, the contemporary worship scene has changed. New prominent church bands have emerged and streaming services have made worship music more accessible. While solo worship artists such as Chris Tomlin and Tim Hughes primarily released studio albums in the 2000s, two new prominent collectives, Bethel Music and Elevation Worship, followed Hillsong and Passion in releasing live albums. These live tracks have heavily influenced the local congregation. One example of this influence is the performance practice of singing ad-libs. This article will first define ad-libs within the contemporary worship context and examine how ad-libs provide authenticity to worship leaders. Then, it will explain how this performance practice moved from worship artists to local church vocalists. Finally, the article will conclude with a new typology for identifying and analyzing ad-libs in contemporary worship. Singing ad-libs in contemporary worship is an authenticating performance practice that has extended into the local church through the prominence of live recordings and therefore requires a typology for further research. Full article

To curb the spread of COVID-19, houses of worship in the State of New York were legally required to limit attendance at religious ceremonies. Two religious communities—the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn and the Orthodox Jewish organization, Agudath Israel of America—asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene. This article provides a theological interpretation of the Court’s decision to grant these communities injunctive relief, thus freeing them from the State’s restrictions on religious attendance. Drawing upon the Catholic tradition, and especially the thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas, the article offers a sustained virtue-based analysis of the Court opinion and of the relationship between church and state more generally. Full article

Malta, as a member of the European Union (EU), has pledged to become carbon neutral by the year 2050. Concurrently, the need for thermal comfort for people within places of worship has expanded tremendously in recent years. As a result, prioritizing passive methods over mechanical air-conditioning systems in such buildings is an essential step toward protecting the macroclimate while achieving a sustainable and comfortable indoor environment. Using DesignBuilder-EnergyPlus software, this paper examines the effectiveness of selective passive measures in two free-running church buildings. Results show that certain passive measures alleviate severe high and low indoor temperatures, resulting in a more comfortable environment. Environmental control, on the other hand, present difficult conservation challenges. Historic church buildings were initially built to make use of passive design features for internal comfort, and this study shows that they outperform expectations and, in general, outperform more contemporary church structures. Full article

COVID-19 has driven several global offline communities to go online. Restrictions to the free movement of people in response to the coronavirus pandemic triggered a profound rethinking of jobs, products and services, and among them, the activities of religious communities, which are well consolidated in the offline sphere. In Spain, since the lockdown established by the government in March 2020, the Catholic Church has reinvented its activity, as all the churches and other places of worship have been closed. This constituted a considerable challenge, considering the history and dynamics of the institution. This paper aims to analyze how Catholicism, as one of the most consolidated offline communities, reworked its communication, going online in a matter of days. With this objective, researchers surveyed each and every one of the 70 Spanish dioceses, taking them as representatives of the global Catholic community in the country. Their responses are complemented with an in-depth interview with the Director of Communications at the Spanish Conference of Bishops. The results highlight the huge and unprecedented step towards the digitalization of the community through consistent, creative and efficient action. New methods, platforms and languages have been implemented, even broadening community membership. Despite an offline essence that is still detected in some decisions, this pandemic has brought a new communicative paradigm to the Spanish Catholic community. Digitalization has been consolidated whilst preserving the best aspects of direct contact and action. Full article

U.S. constitutional jurisprudence precludes the direct government funding of religious activity. At the same time, the jurisprudence surrounding the U.S. First Amendment Religion Clauses has evolved to support the general inclusion of religious entities in programs through which a government advances some overarching public interest, such as health care or social services, but does not involve the Government in advancing religion per se. Moreover, the most recent U.S. Supreme Court cases hold that it is a violation of the First Amendment to exclude a religious actor, solely because it is religious, from a general public program and funding on equal terms with secular actors. Pandemic relief from the federal government has been made available to houses of worship (churches, mosques, synagogues, etc.) to mitigate the economic impact of government lockdown orders and public health restrictions on assembly, by offsetting loss of revenue and avoiding the suspension or termination of employees. The extension of such relief sits precisely at the crossroads of debated legal questions about whether such assistance is aid to religion—prohibited—or neutral disaster relief on equal terms with other community-serving entities—permitted. This article concludes that the inclusion of houses of worship is constitutional, given the trend and direction of U.S. law, although the matter will continue to be debated as the effects of the pandemic recede. Full article

Indonesia is an archipelago country in which the tourism sector plays a role as an economic locomotive. In 2016, Indonesia joined the World Halal Tourism Award (WHTA) and won 12 awards, three of which were won by West Sumatra. Bukittinggi is the principal city of tourism in West Sumatra. There are many halal hotels and restaurants and 190 mosques available in the city. Unfortunately, the information regarding the mosque locations is still inadequate. For this reason, this research was conducted in order to develop a web-based and mobile-based geographic information system (GIS) for places of worship information (GPWI) to make it easier for Muslim tourists to find mosques, and other tourism objects and facilities. This paper reports on the development of the GPWI. The development of the GPWI employed the waterfall method. The GPWI allowed tourists to find mosques based on specific criteria, whose output showed them the location, information, route, and local transportation available to get to the mosques as well as other tourism objects and facilities around the mosque. The GPWI was developed using Free Open Source Software (FOSS) PostgreSQL/PostGIS, PHP, JavaScript, and Basic4Android. The spatial-based database and programs that were used to develop this GPWI are the main contributions of this study. Based on the product evaluation, the GPWI successfully met the needs of Muslim tourists in finding mosques during their visits to Bukittinggi. Full article