Kevin Callahan AIA, NCARB is an architect, liturgical design consultant and cultural anthropologist. He is CEO and Design Director for Callahan Studios Soul Space based in Scottsdale, Arizona which includes integrated Architecture, Liturgical Design and Audio/Visual Technical Systems integration professional services in worship environments. Callahan Studios Fusion Design specializes in specialized public assembly particpatory environments such as concert halls and theatres.

Kevin became a registered architect in 1983 and founded Callahan Studios in 1987 in Indianapolis. An Orlando studio  was in place from 1992 thru 1999 sevring the southeastern US. The west studio was formed in 2001 to serve a growing number of clients in the west US and became the main sole studio in 2003. The interest in worship environments became evident early in the practice and Kevin became a Liturgical Design Consultant in 1990.  Subsequent professional experience included Agency Construction Management from 1995 to 2005 and Stewardship Resources from 2000 thru 2005. While the national religious market was not yet ready for such a comprehensive approach the result of providing these integrated family of professional services is an understanding of the breadth and depth of all facets of the design, construction and stewardship for religious projects far beyond the general practice of architecture.

Callahan Studios has recently returned to focus exclusively on their early roots in architectural design, environmental transformation and achieving a unique "ancient-future" balance of architecture and technology in assembly environments. A twenty year expertise of working alongside 210 ministries (to date) in a collaborative effort with over 300,000 people (and counting) is evident in their ability to assist churches in seeking a philosophy of technology relative to the participatory attributes of worship and public assembly environments striving for connectedness and intimacy.

Kevin received a Bachelor Degree of Architecture and Environmental Design (along with a Foundations in Business minor) from Ball State University in 1981. He received a Master of Architecture Degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1986. He has been an associate professor of design at both schools. His early interest in liturgical design, worship environment acoustics and lighting began in a nine month study of historical and contemporary European churches based in Rome, Italy in 1985-86 as a central part of the graduate degree.

Callahan Studios is known for and have received national recognition and litugical design awards (see "Events") for worship environments in denominations from Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Anglican, Lutheran, Methodist churches to Southern Baptist, Penecostal, Evangelical and Emergent churches. His knowledge of the psychological effects of natural room acoustics and natural lighting in combination with emergent audio, video and lighting technology are well known throughout the country. As a result of this expertise he has been a featured speaker nationally teaching on specialized assembly environments.

His personal spiritual journey has been a progression of Methodist, Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, Emergent and Post-Emergent. Coupled with his professional experience in worship environments and worldwide study has yielded a focus in natural assembly environments, specifically pre-historic worship environments. He is currently authoring a book entitled: "It's Not Rocket Science, But It Is...Rocket Art: Ancient Realities in Post Modern Worship Spaces"to be published in April 2008 .

This book considers environmental body language in a worship assembly context, and how the resulting combination of internal/external and physical/emotional sensory realities influences our spiritual DNA. This is foundational to how we connect in the act of worship, both individually and corporately. Resolution of a philosophy of technology is essential in order for the church to recover from our current state of kinesthetic amnesia and catch up with the real world. Full frontal liturgy is an oxymoron. Conversations include the potential for the "multi-directional body language" of various seating relationships in worship assembly spaces and related visual imagery, oratorical interaction, natural acoustic realities and natural lighting qualities. Also considered is the ancient future concept of "multi-site" worship environments, or what we call "concurrent worship", in order to foster intimacy and connectedness in the worship assembly. Restoration of environmental participation in a quantum world within the specific local context in the midst of global culture is a primary focus of this book. Interested in hearing more? Click here and let us know.