Crystal Cathedral board endorses offer from Diocese of Orange

[Farsight001]

Other than whatever’s going on outside proving a distraction what’s wrong with it?

 

[NickVA]

I certainly couldn’t go to Mass there. Far too distracting. Churches should look like churches.

 

[lizaanne]

Other than whatever’s going on outside proving a distraction what’s wrong with it?

Aside from the fact that it’s hideous?

I just don’t see this as an appropriate space for Holy Mass. The entire structure would be nothing but a distraction.

~Liza

 

[valient_Lucy]

I certainly couldn’t go to Mass there. Far too distracting. Churches should look like churches.

Amen! Watch PBS Nova’s episode Building the Great Cathedrals.

 

[Rolltide]

I certainly couldn’t go to Mass there. Far too distracting. Churches should look like churches.

That said, the Catholic Church has a LONG history of taking the religious structures of other denominations and religions and appropriating them for Catholicism, including some that were not necessarily ideal locations for Mass. More famous locations that I can think of offhand include the Pantheon and Santa Costanza in Rome (which were pagan), and La Mesquita in Cordoba, Spain (which was a mosque).

 

[Rolltide]

As I just mentioned in another thread about this same subject, the Catholic Church has a long history of appropriating the structures of other denominations and religions when the opportunity presents itself, including MANY structures that have not always been the ideal locations for Mass. Of the top of my head, I can think of the Pantheon and St. Costanza in Rome (which were pagan temples) and La Mesquita in Cordoba, Spain (which was a mosque).

Actually, it’s not all that bad of a building in my opinion, and the interior can be altered to fit Catholic needs. As it is, the interior is already a better layout than some Catholic Churches I can think of offhand. Plus… think of all the opportunities for stained glass!

 

[Farsight001]

Aside from the fact that it’s hideous?

I just don’t see this as an appropriate space for Holy Mass. The entire structure would be nothing but a distraction.

~Liza

I don’t find it hideous. I quite like the idea of the church being “made of” nature, allowing congregants to view God’s beautiful creation all around them, while still being safely tucked inside a church. Kind of reminds me of the time my Catholic group was on a float trip and the priest said mass on a small island in the middle of a river (yep, he brought all his supplies). It was a beautiful mass.

 

[LilyM]

Aside from the fact that it’s hideous?

I just don’t see this as an appropriate space for Holy Mass. The entire structure would be nothing but a distraction.

~Liza

It’s just a giant glass box. I’d be far more distracted by the busy architectural detail and artwork of somewhere like St Peter’s Basilica. Imagine being seated where you can see the smiling face of the embalmed Pope John XXIII! :hypno:

 

[manualman]

I love a good conspiracy theory. Here’s mine on the matter:

Schuller: “I’ve always appreciated working with you on matters of common interest and I’m in a pickle right now and have an idea that might benefit us both.”

Catholic Bishop: “Oh, what’s that?”

S: "I’m in desperate financial straights, my donor stream has dried up and they are going to foreclose on my properties. I need something to drum up donations. In spite of my best intentions, there are an awful lot of my people (i.e. protestants) who consider you guys one step below the boogey-man. If I were to get a viral rumor going that my finance problems were going to force me to sell the Crystal Cathedral to the “papists”, I’m thinking I might shock a whole lotta people into renewing their donations so that doesn’t have to happen. You confirm the diocesan interest and set up a corporation called "Fundraising Assistance Associates, LLC. I can have some friends set up a “Save the Crystal Cathedral Fund” for horrified protestants to donate to and if we hit $30 million in donations, I’ll write your dummy firm a check for $750,000 for your consulting services in my fundraising effort. It shouldn’t affect your own fundraising, since my donors are mostly folks who aren’t your donors anyways, right?

CB: “ChickChing, I’m in!”

(kidding, relax…)

 

[kimmielittle]

I love a good conspiracy theory. Here’s mine on the matter:

Schuller: “I’ve always appreciated working with you on matters of common interest and I’m in a pickle right now and have an idea that might benefit us both.”

Catholic Bishop: “Oh, what’s that?”

S: "I’m in desperate financial straights, my donor stream has dried up and they are going to foreclose on my properties. I need something to drum up donations. In spite of my best intentions, there are an awful lot of my people (i.e. protestants) who consider you guys one step below the boogey-man. If I were to get a viral rumor going that my finance problems were going to force me to sell the Crystal Cathedral to the “papists”, I’m thinking I might shock a whole lotta people into renewing their donations so that doesn’t have to happen. You confirm the diocesan interest and set up a corporation called "Fundraising Assistance Associates, LLC. I can have some friends set up a “Save the Crystal Cathedral Fund” for horrified protestants to donate to and if we hit $30 million in donations, I’ll write your dummy firm a check for $750,000 for your consulting services in my fundraising effort. It shouldn’t affect your own fundraising, since my donors are mostly folks who aren’t your donors anyways, right?

CB: “ChickChing, I’m in!”

(kidding, relax…)

 

[SonCatcher]

I love a good conspiracy theory. Here’s mine on the matter:

Schuller: “I’ve always appreciated working with you on matters of common interest and I’m in a pickle right now and have an idea that might benefit us both.”

Catholic Bishop: “Oh, what’s that?”

S: "I’m in desperate financial straights, my donor stream has dried up and they are going to foreclose on my properties. I need something to drum up donations. In spite of my best intentions, there are an awful lot of my people (i.e. protestants) who consider you guys one step below the boogey-man. If I were to get a viral rumor going that my finance problems were going to force me to sell the Crystal Cathedral to the “papists”, I’m thinking I might shock a whole lotta people into renewing their donations so that doesn’t have to happen. You confirm the diocesan interest and set up a corporation called "Fundraising Assistance Associates, LLC. I can have some friends set up a “Save the Crystal Cathedral Fund” for horrified protestants to donate to and if we hit $30 million in donations, I’ll write your dummy firm a check for $750,000 for your consulting services in my fundraising effort. It shouldn’t affect your own fundraising, since my donors are mostly folks who aren’t your donors anyways, right?

CB: “ChickChing, I’m in!”

(kidding, relax…)

I didn’t mean to start a joke thread but as long as we remain (mostly) respectful, keep 'em coming.

 

[Mattapoisett64]

That said, the Catholic Church has a LONG history of taking the religious structures of other denominations and religions and appropriating them for Catholicism, including some that were not necessarily ideal locations for Mass. More famous locations that I can think of offhand include the Pantheon and Santa Costanza in Rome (which were pagan), and La Mesquita in Cordoba, Spain (which was a mosque).

Exactly – to say nothing of the fact that the pagan Roman “basilica” ( typically a large building used for various public purposes, sometimes as an audience hall) with its large main nave, two smaller side naves, and an apse in front, set the “standard design” for Christian churches down to our present day. Basilicas, stoles, the term “pontifex maximus,” a Curia – these are all from pre-Christian Rome.

 

[Alan55]

I don’t share the love of many posting in this thread for Gothic churches. The sight lines, acoustics, etc. tend to be pretty awful, they’re inaccessible to the elderly and wheelchair bound, and they lack a lot of the amenities that we expect from public gathering places, even sacred ones. If lay participation in the liturgy is to be “full, conscious and active,” then the churches of centuries ago will not serve the needs of the Church today. I’m not necessarily smitten by the Crystal Cathedral, but I’m also not nostalgic about outmoded church structures.

 

[_Abyssinia]

A new and intriguing prospect for the Crystal Cathedral emerged Wednesday when the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange said it was considering buying the bankrupt church in Garden Grove and converting it to a Catholic cathedral.

The announcement by Orange Bishop Tod Brown came one day after Chapman University made a $46-million bid for the 40-acre site. The Crystal Cathedral had earlier reached a tentative agreement for a sale and lease-back deal with a real estate developer, subject to approval by U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Robert Kwan.

A sale to the Catholic Church would solve a longstanding problem for the Orange Diocese, which has no central cathedral for its 1.2-million parishioners. It has been planning for more than a decade to build a new, 2,500-seat cathedral in Santa Ana, but has gotten only as far as hiring an architect.

latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0707-crystal-cathedral-20110707,0,2136205.story

 

[CatholicGuy22]

Im all for saving money but come on! That does not look like a suitable place to have the Holy mass!

 

[SonCatcher]

already being discussed on this thread

 

[JaMc]

Given the death of the art of ecclesiastical archticure in the last 40 years, I suspect the Crystal Cathedral isn’t any worse than what the architect the Diocese hired would have come up with.

 

[TarkanAttila]

Given the death of the art of ecclesiastical archticure in the last 40 years, I suspect the Crystal Cathedral isn’t any worse than what the architect the Diocese hired would have come up with.

Or any kind of architecture.

A church is a church, however, and the Mass is the Mass, whether it takes place on the altar at Saint Peter’s, or on the writing table of an Anglican clergyman in Littlemore, UK.

 

[gamewell45]

Is it hot inside? Looks like a giant green house.

I’m pretty sure its centrally air conditioned othewise it’d be like an inferno inside.

 

[valient_Lucy]

That said, the Catholic Church has a LONG history of taking the religious structures of other denominations and religions and appropriating them for Catholicism, including some that were not necessarily ideal locations for Mass. More famous locations that I can think of offhand include the Pantheon and Santa Costanza in Rome (which were pagan), and La Mesquita in Cordoba, Spain (which was a mosque).

Very true, but it would take a lot of work to make this look like a church, and more importantly, do we even know what a church is supposed to look like anymore?