Bland Churches in the West

[MiserereMei25]

This is a topic that really unsettled me as a convert from Protestantism.

What is the purpose of modern whitewashed parishes that have no color or flavor in them?

In my dioceses I have been to many horrid parishes where there is a stick figure on the Cross instead of Jesus, or the altar is just a table. Thankfully they recently restored the sanctuary in our parish. Before it looked like a modern library.

Can someone clarify why our religion of rich tradition has done this to itself? How do we fix it?

 

[Dugtrio1]

We don’t miss what we have until it’s gone. It’ll come back.

Edit: To be a little more informative, it’s partly because Church architecture in some areas followed the trend of modern architecture away from the ornate and decorative to the simple and open, and partly because changing style sometimes draws new people. I say it will come back because I think people most loyal to the Church have a fondness for its history, which often includes music, architecture, etc.

 

[giuseppe96]

It looks like the modernistic ideas about ecumenism in the West haven’t been working. I can tell that Protestants don’t want to leave their churches to come home to a whitewashed version of what they hoped to be coming home to. Chants and polyphony, not guitar ballads. Art and statues, not white walls and bare crosses.

 

[RandomAlias]

How do we fix it?

Fix what? It’s all good. Don’t mistake art for holiness.

 

[po18guy]

Well…I would rivet my eyes on the Tabernacle, because…

We do not attend mass to appreciate the beautiful edifice.
We do not attend mass to take in the artwork.
We do not attend mass to hear stirring homilies.
We do not attend mass for fellowship.
We do not attend mass necessarily to receive the Eucharist.
We attend the Holy Sacrifice of the mass so that we can offer ourselves to the Father as living sacrifices (Colossians 1:24) in atonement for the sins of the world.

That is the cake. Everything above and beyond that is icing.

 

[Augustinian]

Protestants don’t want to leave their churches to come home to a whitewashed version of what they hoped to be coming home to.

I don’t think that many Protestants convert for the architecture.

 

[LisaB]

All the externals, like the statues, the architecture, the music etc, is supposed to be a reflection of a spiritual reality and raise our mind and heart to God. They absolutely matter.

 

[RandomAlias]

Sure it matters. It is good that we have some parishes like that.

 

[BornInMarch]

I like beautifully decorated churches, but an argument can also be made for humble churches. After all, Jesus was born in a manger, not a castle.

 

[giuseppe96]

It’s part of the experience. My friend is a convert and she told me about the disillusionment she felt when going to a Catholic Mass for the first time in a ‘modern’ parish.

 

[giuseppe96]

Thank you for that. I can never find the right words.

 

[ConfusedLucy]

The older more ornate churches look lovely but are black holes for money that the parish may not have. I can understand why a parish would choose something cheaper and easier to maintain.

 

[CRM_Brother]

What is the purpose of modern whitewashed parishes that have no color or flavor in them?

There is a movement in religious architecture called ‘Mendicant Architecture’. It derives from the Mendicant Orders which began in the 13th century such as the Franciscans and Dominicans. “Mendicant” comes from mendicare which means ‘to beg’ as the Orders originally sustained themselves totally on the brothers begging the faithful for donations. As such, their religious houses were usually as stark and sparse as possible to live out the poverty of the spirit of being a Mendicant. Many of these Church’s were simply white washed instead of decorated so that they didn’t waste the money and offerings they had been given on something which they saw as irrelevant. The churches built by these orders drew massive crowds, not because they were beautiful, but because of the spirit and fervor of the brothers and priests of the community. Through this influence, movements outside of these orders began to reduce ornament in Churches so as to channel the focus of the people on the Mass taking place within it. A good modern example of this is the Chapel at Gethsemani Trappist Monastery in Kentucky.
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The influence of this Mendicant style of architecture may some of what you have been encountering.

Can someone clarify why our religion of rich tradition has done this to itself? How do we fix it?

I do not know where you are from, but many modern churches borrow architectural styles from the area. In the United States, at least, that is mainly Protestant. I know in South Carolina, many Catholic Churches mirror the styles of the numerous Baptist churches in the area, simply because that is the cultural norm. One of the best examples of this is our Cathedral. Outside of the sanctuary and stations of the cross, it could easily be mistaken for another protestant church in the area, but it is still heavily reflective of the culture of South Carolinian Catholicism.
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The reason the Catholic Church has such a rich tradition is because we enculturate, that is, we present the vibrancy of the Church and Faith within the context of the local culture. We don’t need certain types of art or architecture to feel at home because our Church is living and breathing in the Holy Spirit and He sustains us.

God Bless,
Br. Ben, CRM

 

[Tis_Bearself]

It was a trend starting in the 1950s and peaking in the 60s and 70s to have a very plain church. This was actually supposed to appeal to Protestants, among others, who supposedly didn’t want to go into a church and see all kinds of statues and Mary and saint representations. You were supposed to be able to focus more on God in a plain space. I suspect cost and maintenance also came into play as it’s easier to clean and keep up a very plain space.

I have seen some really beautiful plain spaces. Sometimes removing all the decoration emphasizes the architecture or the gorgeous building materials of the church building. I have also seen some plain spaces that looked like a warehouse with a couple of ugly felt banners. In one case, the church space (which was actually a room at an “interfaith center” that the Catholics were sharing with other faiths) was so ugly it made me not want to go to Mass, sadly.

During the 60s and 70s the focus of the church was also very heavily on social justice. Caring about having a pretty or ornate worship space was looked down on by many Catholics who thought that you were focusing too much on “things” or “externals” and not enough on people and God if you were concerned about your physical surroundings. That money spent on a statue or a fancy sanctuary could have been spent on the poor. Etc.

These days, people are swinging back towards a preference for the traditional, so you’re seeing a renewed appreciation for statues, a central sanctuary and so on. Since you go around the diocese, I’m sure there are other parishes where the traditional churches have been preserved - these tend to be the older churches built prior to the 1950s.

 

[MiserereMei25]

Hi. I feel like a Mendicant Church is different though. I’m talking about some of the parishes we have that really do look like corporate offices or airports and sometimes.

The Mendicant style you mentioned and the picture you shared does look like a temple to worship Jesus.

 

[Augustinian]

It was a trend starting in the 1950s and peaking in the 60s and 70s to have a very plain church. This was actually supposed to appeal to Protestants

I don’t think so. Its more of church architects just picking a style that meets the times in which the work is done, and that goes for protestant churches as well.

Here in Pittsburgh, we have protestant church buildings like Calvary Church and East Liberty Presbyterian which could easily be mistaken for Catholic churches of the same vintage.

In Baltimore, the Baltimore Basilica is a neoclassical building which is really rare for American churches and common for public buildings when it was planned

 

[DeniseNY]

Here in Pittsburgh, we have protestant church buildings like Calvary Church and East Liberty Presbyterian which could easily be mistaken for Catholic churches of the same vintage.

I see quite a few like this in NE OH and Western PA, I’m always kind of surprised when I come to find that they are not actually Catholic churches.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

The Baltimore Basilica is hundreds of years old and not “bland”, so it’s irrelevant to this discussion.

It’s your opinion that it was just “architects picking a style”. Actually there were Vatican II guidelines for church interiors that said in part to get rid of clutter. And the plain look of churches in the 60s and 70s, in some cases not even having a statue of Mary anywhere, is in keeping with the overall downplaying of Mary and the saints at that time, which included a lot fewer devotions than what we see coming back today.

I lived through it, I know.

 

[CRM_Brother]

In Baltimore, the Baltimore Basilica is a neoclassical building which is really rare for American churches and common for public buildings when it was planned

St. Mary’s of the Annunciation in Charleston SC is (southern) neoclassical too, at least on the outside, and predates the Baltimore Basilica by about 20 years. At the time it was actually still part of the Diocese of Baltimore. It was the first Catholic Church in the south eastern USA and was specifically designed that way to fit in with the other Protestant churches in the area so that they would have an easier time getting approval from the city government.
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Maybe this is where Baltimore got the idea from. It even has the same name.

 

[mrsdizzyd]

giuseppe96:

Protestants don’t want to leave their churches to come home to a whitewashed version of what they hoped to be coming home to.

I don’t think that many Protestants convert for the architecture.

For those that read our way into the church and become extremely attracted to history and tradition, externals play a role.

Now, I’m not going to go as far as the OP. But, I do avoid the modern churches with whitewashed walls and the happy clappy music if I can, and I usually can. If I can’t, then so be it.