This is a well researched and informative book on an interesting topic which has not received very much attention. Though written in a slightly pedestrian style, it presents a cogent thesis lucidly – that in the course of the twentieth century ‘ecumenism, liturgical renewal and modern architecture [converged] to yield a particular design highlighting the reality of God's immanence’ (p. 149). Torgerson begins with a distinction that goes back to the Old Testament, between the tabernacle and the temple, the former giving prominence to God's presence with his people on their journey (and thus reflecting his immanence), the latter providing a permanent ‘house of God’ to which faithful pilgrims journey (thus reflecting God's transcendence). Torgerson rightly observes that the tabernacle with its ‘holy of holies’ did not deny or ignore God's transcendence and neither did the temple deny his immanence. The difference is always a matter of emphasis, since no building properly called a church can be wholly devoid of either. His topic, though, is the dramatic shift of emphasis from the sense of transcendent mystery that is so marked an aspiration of the nineteenth-century Gothic revival in church architecture to the ordinary down-to-earth character of so many churches built in Europe and America after the First World War.

The difference arose not just from the adoption of a new architectural style. It was the outcome of important trends in the worldwide church. The first of these was a theologically driven perception that the Gospel must be preached in the language of the secular world and that this should include the visual vocabulary of church architecture. The second was the powerful ecumenical movement which began with the Edinburgh conference of 1910, as a result of which finding a shared architectural style became part of the wider aspiration among different denominations to find (and share) common ground. The third was liturgical renewal which, especially after Vatican II, stressed the importance of lay participation in the worshipping life of the Christian community.

The distinctive features of the ‘modern’ architecture of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius, Louis Sullivan, Mies von der Ruhr and so on, with their emphasis on functionality, use of modern materials (especially poured concrete), simple geometrical shapes, lack of ornamentation, extensive use of natural light, open flexible spaces, all spoke to these ecclesiastical trends and seemed ideally suited to serve them. Torgerson does a very good job of explaining how these amounted to more than merely contingent associations and of illustrating their importance both in many notable church buildings of the period and some of its most influential architects.

The book is much less satisfactory, however, when it comes to a critical appraisal of these trends. Chapter 9 is subtitled ‘Discernment and Lessons Learned’, but it is written in the language of ‘maybe’, ‘could’ and ‘possibly’. He describes Michael Rose's charge that ‘they changed our churches from sacred places to meetings spaces’ as ‘provocative’ but just agrees that ‘church architecture may indeed have been impoverished on some level’ (pp. 202–3). What is missing is any substantial theological critique. The following questions seem to me crucial. First, the shift from ‘house of God’ to ‘house for God's people’ can, contrary to the rhetoric, be a significant withdrawal from the world. Large numbers of non-Christian people visit the great cathedrals; generally, only existing members of the Christian ‘community’ visit its meeting places. Second, what is meant by ‘participation’? This book confirms that often this was interpreted architecturally to mean nothing more than being closer to the action. When liturgy takes on the character of drama (as it often ought to), the circles of seats round a central, slightly raised altar do not help participation at all. Third, churches which look like factories (as some of those illustrated here) may easily cross the line between ‘being in the world’ and ‘being of the world’, i.e. just like everything else. Fourth, the most unmistakably transcendent style of church building, new as well as old, is that in the Orthodox tradition. Torgerson notes that the Orthodox churches were far more active participants in the ecumenical movement than the Roman Catholic Church, but does not mention their ability to resist the modernist trend, an important counter to part of his general thesis.

This book contains over ninety pages of appendices, glossary, bibliography and index. In my view, it would have been a far better use of these pages if Torgerson had taken his topic to a more rigorous and critical theological level.