How can you manage to take a break even if you are busy? With creating a ritual and with institutionalizing it. Take for example the prayer in Islam. Every believer takes time for it, no matter what profession they follow or where they are. A good break with no distraction often even helps to be more productive afterwards and refocus on what needs to be done, as much in professional as in private live. The inspiration of a tea ritual comes from asian culture. Focussing on a specific action like preparing the tea get’s your mind of the thought patterns you are in. Drinking the tea activates different senses and is pleasing and calming. You could also think of creating other rituals like for example playing a concentration game, performing specific movements or meditating. It’s easier to justify those actions in front of others once you can give them a context (institutionalize them)...

Thinking about punk concerts, rock ‘n roll concerts, techno parties, soccer stadiums, evangelic churches…all of these places have been new in society at some point and a challenge to establishments of their time. Through creating spaces around the community, people were able to perform in a way they felt urged to. Rules and habits of these places were naturally evolving as they were developing, resulting in specific energies. At some point though the behaviors of a unknown space become static again. Therefor they are becoming another type of establishment them self, often reluctant to reform. Is it possible to create a place which will automatically renew and challenges hollow rituals!? I often get angry when I am at evangelic services where at least three quarter of it are filled with hollow rituals. Even singing an unknown/ none-religious song would cost so much energy although it...

More and more I am coming to the realization, that the most central point of my ideas about the Millennial Church is the pursuit of emotional well being. Every time needs it’s own institution for that and every civilization has it’s own measurements. Of course that alone is not a revolutionary thought. The twist is to ask if you can design an institution entirely devoted to and fully aware of the goal to create frame works for emotional well being. We are at a time in which we understand more and more about ourselves. Why don’t we use that knowledge and start to create what is good for us instead of trivializing it?

Take one of my favorite examples: the Mother Figure in religions and other cults. Every society has them, the perfect, flawless female which we can turn to and load with all our imperfections, fears and secret desires in return for tolerance, understanding and consolation...

One of the most important topics in the process of creating a religion as a graduation process was the idea of giving a framework to fight conventions and thought patterns. So many ideas of behavior in public or private space, relations with others and the self, ideas about spirituality, social life and personal well being are so outdated and stuck and are hard to tackle. To create a framework were none of these conventions apply and all common values can be challenged was a main part of my motivation. To call it a religion is both ironically provocative and serious.

So many parts of our all day lives in nearly all societies are influenced or deriving from religious believes and values. Some even say, that ideals like Communism, Capitalism or Liberalism can be seen as religions. No matter how you call it, they are believe systems which are the base for creating institutions...

This is the blog for my project ‘The Millennial Church’. I am Paul Stümpel and I graduated with this project from a bachelors degree at the Design Academy Eindhoven. This blog is a collection of thoughts, sketches and ideas which evolved during the process of working on the ‘Millennial Church’ and will be updated with new insights as well. It serves as a collection of process for myself as well as it is food for thought for the reader and invites to discussion. Please feel free to leave a personal message at stuempel.paul@gmail.com .

The Millennial Church is a scenario and research into creating religion-like habits without the worship to a deity, to deal with worldly problems of our time. Next to worship, fanaticism and dogmas, religions have always provided structures to cope with all day struggles, may it be on a private, social, artistic or architectural level. Many of them...