Dime Tabernacle

It is interesting to consider (if you should happen to be a part of the Adventist South Atlantic Conference, that is), that the capacity of the main assembly hall at South Atlantic’s River Oaks Convention Center, and the capacity of the Dime Tabernacle in Battle Creek (for a season the “mother church” of Adventism) are almost identical: both could/can accommodate around 4,000 people. The facility in Battle Creek can no longer accommodate anybody, as it burned on the third day of 1922. Dime Tabernacle was erected in 1876. It gained its name due to the fundraising technique that was employed in order to accumulate the money required for its construction. James White suggested that all members of the church contribute 10 cents a month for a full year to raise the necessary amount. This is similar to the method whereby enough money was raised to pay for a pedestal for the Statue of Liberty. Schoolchildren were instructed to save their pennies, forsaking penny-candy for whatever period was required to raise the required amount. A second digression is this one: the whole Protestant Reformation was substantially motivated by objections about the practice of selling indulgences. The proceeds from these sales were earmarked for the construction of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. The Adventists were not so ambitious, but doubtlessly came to regret that they did not spend a bit more on Dime Tabernacle in order to render it more flame-resistant. The architectural style of Dime Temple was like a “Queen Anne” inflected version of Gothic. Assembly halls built in the nineteenth century are typically compromised by interior columns should they attempt to accommodate 4,000 people. The massing of the roof of the Dime Tabernacle is reminiscent of that of a gothic cathedral, indicative of a central nave flanked by side aisles. This arrangement would result in plenty of intrusive interior columns, but folk of that bygone era who wished to gather in large numbers, indoors, were forced to accept this condition. Should they wish to be sheltered from the sun and rain at a baseball game, they were also obliged to accept the inevitability of a few slender columns blocking their view.