A THEOLOGICAL JOURNAL XLIV 2002 Published by the Protestant ...

TIM NOBLE
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE ìSACRED
SPACEî IN TWO COMMUNITIES
Tim Noble, Praha
Introduction
The introduction explains some aspects of the terminology and methodology
and gives some indications as to the motive for the work.
Terminology
The title refers to the ìsacred spaceî, but henceforth in general the
word ìchurchî, will be used. The references to the Church as institution
will be written thus, with upper-case C. The expression ìsacred
spaceî is understood in a socio-anthropological sense, to designate
the place where a community meets to fulfil its religious duties or to
celebrate its religious feasts. Given that in the communities which
will be spoke about the word ìchurchî is used to serve this function,
we will use it in this way. ìCommunityî is used for two reasons. In
ecclesiastical terms neither of the two is a parish and for that reason
this description cannot be used. Moreover, ìcommunityî expresses
well the self-description of the two places, a description in which, as
we shall see, the church has a not unimportant role.
Methodology
Following this introduction, there will be a description of an historic-geographical
nature of the two communities, namely, St. Wilfridís
in Manchester, England, and São João Batista in JustinÛpolis,
Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The major part will refer to
Manchester, because more is known about the situation there and it
has a history of almost 150 years, whilst JustinÛpolis, and even more
the neighbourhoods which the church serves, have a much briefer
history, although obviously this is to say nothing about the relative
values of the two communities. The description will try to situate
each community within its specific context, giving emphasis to the
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