Sunset Ward Cultural Hall

1601 22nd Ave
San Francisco, CA
Built 1945
Click for Map Location of Building

seshat

I told a friend recently about how all Mormon churches have a basketball court, and how often they are at the heart of the church, its actual physical center, with everything else at the periphery. He said, “Oh, so they’re not really sacred spaces; they’re just meeting houses.” I thought that was a very perceptive remark, and said, “Yes. In fact, the church itself refers to buildings where congregations meet as meeting houses, not as churches. I don’t think they’re intended to be sacred; they’re supposed to be just useful items.”

We had a long conversation about the sacred and the profane. He said he could tell that his church growing up was sacred because it looked and felt like nothing in the profane world. But you can tell Mormon meeting houses are profane, because they look and feel just like everything else in the profane world.

Makes sense to me.

April 16, 2011 at 6:58 am

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