On a thread a piece back, I posted interior and exterior photo of the East Liberty Presbyterian Church on CAF, and people were impressed. Years ago, they had a lunchroom in the building, and I worked nearby and sometimes had lunch there. Really fancy
Is this the cathedral? If so, I’d hardly call that plain. It’s beautiful! A church doesn’t have to be 500 years old to beautifully reflective of the traditions of the church.
Yes, this is our Cathedral. I think it is very beautiful too. I wasn’t trying to say it was plain. Sorry if it came across that way. I was talking about Catholic churches adopting the local religious architecture. If you take away the sanctuary and the stations of the cross, then it could very well be many of the other Protestant churches in the city (and there are a lot; they don’t call Charleston the Holy City for nothing). While southern Protestant liturgical architecture can be somewhat ornate, I was trying to extrapolate that to more Presbyterian Anabaptist austerity in architecture found in other areas of the country.
They usually do, if they have the money. I know of quite a few churches (including one parish our Order administrates) who wanted somewhat traditional churches but didn’t have the money. The architects who built them usually didn’t bend on their price, so architects who wanted to build something “new” low-balled prices just to get their church built. This happened rather often in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Sometimes even the cities forced the parishes to build them a certain way through the Urban Revitalization projects during that time period. We had to fight both the architect and the city tooth and nail when building a new parish church to throw out some of the more outlandish designs. We still got stuck with a steeple that leaks directly over the sanctuary, a half church-in-the-round with bad acoustics, and next to no parking. A lot of times the parishes are just happy to have a roof over their heads at the time of construction.
. There is something very honorable and appropriate in this setting. I think religious art is a form of spiritual worship, but there is nothing wrong with a simple church. Although, my heart desires more for Him.I actually think (in most instances) the more decorated the Church, the more humble.
Make sure the offices are not grand, massive offices which would be akin to a CEO.
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Trying out a new style. Traditional style Catholic churches looked modern in medieval times.
To be honest I can’t say I blame him.Really now, I would think Europeans would be more comfortable thanks to a relatively generous social safety net, sure they not buy as much “stuff” as us, go out to restaurants or have large homes but they did trade it for a measure of economic security (state-supplied health care and higher education).
An opportunity to create beauty and hope in desolation and bleakness (perhaps in the form of revitalizing these parishes as missions for the modern world (I like dreaming))?
I read somewhere about a former monastery being converted into a maternity home, while bittersweet in the dissolution of a monastery, at least there was an opportunity to create beautiful space for those in need of it.