Introduction

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 nowadays fall under the critique of religion in general, but work also without believing in a particular god or spirit. They can for example help coping with loneliness, confusion, fear, indifferences, exclusion, restlessness or disease and death. It is private rituals and institutions of sports, entertainment and consume which are taking over some of the functions which were assigned to religions but there is hardly any deliberate, focussed discourse about this topic. Therefor I researched peculiarities of different religions and modern beliefs and interviewed people of my generation about their personal habits, problems and dreams. Mixing all the inputs, I created customs like the Procession of Fools, a Techno Monk, the Second Self, a Train Ride Meditation, Escape Chapels, a Forgotten-Art Pilgrimage or the Temple of Travels. Find all ideas in the following blog and let them be provocation or inspiration for you, but at least a tool for discussion and feel free to let loose of what you expect.

See a teaser video of the Millenial Church here.

I hope you enjoy yourself!