What would a feminist place of worship be like? Taking a feminist approach the key themes are women’s rights within the church, racism within the church and the structural hierarchy of the church. These themes have stemmed from my dissertation, which looked at female representation in stained-glass, through a series of interviews with Christian women and men. In my dissertation I only looked at one aspect within the Christian built environment. However, within this project, I want to broaden the understanding of what a place of worship could be. Taking inspiration from radical feminism, who’s aim is to not to work within the current societal structure but to create an entirely new societal structure. I’ve proposed a feminist religious society that works on the original founding principles of Christianity before it was infiltrated by the patriarchy. This new society has separated themselves from the institution of the church of England and have instead elected new leaders. Each member of the society has a vote to elect their leaders, rather than leaders having a birth right and breaks the cycle of white male clergy electing more white male clergy. It is based on the concept of convents, whereby worship is encompassed into everyday life. This new society is in Buckingham palace and its grounds because Buckingham palace is where the Queen, who is the current head of the Church of England resides. Ultimately this project has been about giving a voice to those in church who are often overlooked. It stemmed from a series of interviews I conducted for my dissertation. It was designed through the help of those who played the boardgame. Finally, it returned to the church to situate the final model.
