Latin American evangelical domus ecclesiae between the end of XIXth and the first half of the XXth century

Protestant Architecture before Vatican Council II

Abstract

Vatican II inspired a new conception of the Catholic church. In chapter VII of the constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, the temple is conceived from seven general principles: freedom of artistic styles; fitness for a community liturgy; symbolic capacity; simplicity and authenticity; comfort; open and welcoming home; and renovations of existing buildings. Despite the apparent novelty of the council inspirations about the new liturgy and architecture, these provisions are an update of those driven by the Protestant Reformers, in opposition to Catholic-Roman liturgical practices of the sixteenth century, 400 years before. After the Reformation, the Protestant church is conceived as a place of personal and direct meeting between man and Jesus; between man and his neighbor; and man himself. In Latin America, the architectural guidelines of the Protestant Reformation, associated with the lack of resources and cultural qualities of the population, they manifested in temples conceived as domus ecclesiae, giving priority to the fraternal, egalitarian and communal encounter, long before the Second Vatican Council.