Abstract. Insights into the history and future of western civilization are found by applying information theory to the acoustical communication channel (ACC) of its worship spaces. Properties of the ACC have both influenced and reflected the choice of message coding (e.g., speech or music) at various times. Speech coding is efficient for acoustically dry ACCs, but hopeless for highly time-dispersive ACCs. Music coding is appropriate for time dispersive (reverberant) ACCs. The ACCs of synagogues, early Christian house churches, and many Protestant churches are relatively acoustically “dry” and thus well suited to spoken liturgies.
The spoken liturgy, dominant in synagogues, was carried over to early Christian churches, but became unworkable in Constantinian cathedrals and was largely replaced with a musical liturgy. After a millennium, the cathedral acoustic was altered to suit the doctrinal needs of reformation churches with its renewed emphasis on the spoken word. Worship forms continue to change, and the changes are reflected in the properties of the ACC. The pulpits of electronic churches may be evolving into radio and television performance spaces and naves into worshipers’ living rooms.
“A Girl Writing; The Pet Goldfinch” 1870 Henriette Browne
For nearly twenty years now, the American National Standards Institute Committee on Education administers a student paper competition intended to encourage understanding of the global standards system that also provides a solid prize — in the $1000 to $5000 range. The topic of the 2024 Student Paper Competition will be What Role Do or Could Standards Play in Safe and Effective Implementation of Artificial Intelligence Applications/Systems?
For the past six years Standards Michigan has hosted Saturday morning workshops to help students (and faculty) interested in entering the contest. We will soon post those dates on our CALENDER. We typically host them — three sessions ahead of the deadline — on Saturday mornings.
We provide links to previous paper winners and refer you to Lisa Rajchel: [email protected] for all other details.
“303.1.4: Accessory religious educational rooms and religious auditoriums with occupant loads less than 100 per room or space are not considered separate occupancies.” This informs how fire protection systems are designed.
“305.2.1: Rooms and spaces within places of worship proving such day care during religious functions shall be classified as part of the primary occupancy.” This group includes building and structures or portions thereof occupied by more than five children older than 2-1/2 years of age who receive educational, supervision or personal care services for fewer than 24 hours per day.
“308.5.2: Rooms and spaces within places of religious worship providing [Group I-4 Day Care Facilities] during religious functions shall be classified as part of the primary occupancy. When [Group I-4 Day Care Facilities] includes buildings and structures occupied by more than five persons of any age who receive custodial care for fewer than 24 hours per day by persons other than parents or guardians, relatives by blood, marriage or adoption, and in a place other than the home of the person cared for.
Tricky stuff — and we haven’t even included conditions under which university-affiliated places of worship may expected to be used as community storm shelters.
Public response to Committee Actions taken in Orlando in April will be received until July 8th.
Because standard development tends to be a backward-looking domain it is enlightening to understand the concepts in play in previous editions. The complete monograph of proposals for new building safety concepts for places of worship for the current revision cycle is linked below:
A simple search on the word “worship” will reveal what ideas are in play. With the Group B Public Comment Hearings now complete ICC administered committees are now curating the results for the Online Governmental Consensus Vote milestone in the ICC process that was completed December 6th. Status reports are linked below:
A quick review of the appeals statements reveals some concern over process, administration and technical matters but none of them directly affect how leading practice for places of worship is asserted.
We are happy to get down in the weeds with facility professionals on other technical issues regarding other occupancy classes that are present in educational communities. See our CALENDAR for next Construction (Ædificare) colloquium open to everyone.
“We Gather Together” is a hymn of Dutch origin that dates back to the late 16th century. It was written in 1597 to celebrate the Dutch victory over Spanish forces in the Battle of Turnhout, part of the Eighty Years’ War. The hymn’s original Dutch title is “Wilt heden nu treden,” and it was composed by Adrianus Valerius with the music arranged by Eduard Kremser.
The hymn expresses gratitude for deliverance from oppression and has been associated with themes of thanksgiving and communal celebration. It was brought to America by Dutch settlers and became widely popular in the United States, particularly for its use during Thanksgiving services and celebrations.
The English version, commonly sung in the United States and Canada, was translated by Theodore Baker in 1894. Over time, “We Gather Together” has become a beloved hymn in North America, often sung at Thanksgiving gatherings and religious services to express gratitude and unity.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
