Modern Church Architecture

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Why, as a citizen of the Great Republic of Texas, are you so worried about the cathedral of Los Angeles?

Drive quickly, do not run or walk, up or down, depending on your location, to San Antonio!!! Stop first at the Anglican Use parish, truly Catholic, and truly beautiful.
http://www.atonementonline.com/
Next, take a hop to Christ the King on Perez, which is partially a rebuild:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/christ_the_king.html
Take a drive over the Oblates and Blessed Sacrament:
http://www.bscc-sa.org/
Try Holy Name:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/holy_name.html
Holy Spirit:
http://www.holyspiritsa.com/
Holy Trinity:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/holy_trinity.html
Prince of Peace:
http://www.princeofpeacecatholic.org/
Ressurection (Although I’ll admit on their own web site, the parish does ntolook as good- it’s nice inside):
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/resurection_of_the_lord.html
Sacred Heart:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/sacred_heart.html
St. Antony:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_anthony_mary_claret.html
St. Elizabeth Seton:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_elizabeth_ann_seton.html
St. Helena (although the parish itself seems to me a bit liberal for my taste- it is stunning, and the baptismal pond is well done):
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_helena.html
St. Jude:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_jude.html
There are also:
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_margaret_mary.html
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_luke.html
http://www.archdiosa.org/parishes/church/bexar/st_vincent_de_paul.html

And those are just the one in which I have been personally, and the ones in Bexar County.
 
1ke said:
Then I guess I have only encountered the other half.
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You’re certainly entitled to your opinion, but I just can’t see how many would find modern ecclesiastical architecture spiritually edifying in the absolute slightest. I’d almost rather have Mass be celebrated outdoors.
 
Thank God (and I mean that sincerely) we have a small cathedral…the Territorial Cathedarl of Guthrie, OK. I’ve been in some churches (Catholic!) that you’d never guess was a place of worship.
Hooray for the older more reverent styles!
And as a musician who plays in church - away with praise and worship music! It sucks!😃
 
Too funny that Fr. Benedict Groeschel was speaking of this exact topic last night (good Friday) and I’m gonna agree with him totally on this one. He states this "If you in your community are in the process of rebuilding or building a church, and it does not look like a catholic church, hit them in the only place it hurts, the pocketbook. He went on to say that (Paraphrase of course) that when he goes into a burger joint he expects it to look like a burger joint, when we go into a Catholic church we expect it to look like a catholic church.
 
While I do appreciate classical arcitecture, I do recognize that churches with a more modern design can be beautiful.

I look for the three characteristics the Michael Rose writes about in the book Ugly as Sin: verticality, permanance and iconography. If it has those, especially the iconography, I feel like I’m in a Catholic church.

The thing I can stand is wreckovations, removing classical features when it’s not neccesary like in the cathedral in Milwaukee or a church in a city near me where it was decided to rip out the marble sanctuary. I’ve seen pictures; it was beautiful now it seems so cold and sterile by comparison. Smaller or mission churches may not be able to afford marble now but it makes no sense to me to rip it out.
 
Well, I’ve been in churches I think ugly, and churches I think beautiful. It’s not the design or appearance of the building, but what goes on within that building that matters. When in those “ugly” churches, I just turn my thoughts and prayers inward to God, which is why I was there in the first place, right?

I currently attend a tiny little church with a beautiful congregation. We have to lift huge “garage doors” that separate the church building from the school cafeteria to have enough room on Sundays. That ain’t pretty, let me tell you. But we pray and worship and celebrate the sacraments. We grow in our faith, support one another in our growth, and welcome new members to the Church and our community. That makes our church beautiful.

Gertie
 
Yes, but that’s a different case from megabucks spent on a deliberately sterile church building. IMHO
 
1ke said:
Our Lady of the Angels is a beautiful cathedral. I visited there in 2005.
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That monstrosity looks like a Borg cube spaceship from Star Trek.

I think everyone here should read Michael S. Rose’s book “Ugly As Sin”
 
One modern church I visited is in Marietta Georgia, St. Ann’s. It’s beautiful. The pews are in a half circle around the altar. Everyone gets a good seat. The music ministry has a place outside the sanctuary, to the left, but in a place that makes them part of the Mass, rather than being up in the choir loft behind and out of site.

Jim
 
lepanto said:
That monstrosity looks like a Borg cube spaceship from Star Trek.

I think everyone here should read Michael S. Rose’s book “Ugly As Sin”
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Resistance is futile! You will be assimilated!

Here are the websites of some Pacific Northwest cathedrals:

Archdiocese of Portland (western Oregon): St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception – renovated several years ago.
archdpdx.org/parishes/cathedral

Diocese of Baker (central and eastern Oregon): St. Francis de Sales – about to be beautifully restored.
saintfranciscathedral.com

Archdiocese of Seattle (western Washington): St. James – no, the altar platform does not rotate!
stjames-cathedral.org

Diocese of Yakima (central Washington): St. Paul
stpaulyakima.org

Diocese of Spokane (eastern Washington): Our Lady of Lourdes – recently damaged by a fire.
cathedralourladyoflourdes.org

Diocese of Boise (all of Idaho): St. John – someday the towers will be finished (there is a bell up there, though)
stjohnsparishboise.org

Archdiocese of Vancouver (southwestern mainland British Columbia): Holy Rosary – the communion rail is new and they actually use it! Also weekly change ringing on English bells.
hrc.rcav.org/
 
JimR-OCDS said:
One modern church I visited is in Marietta Georgia, St. Ann’s. It’s beautiful. The pews are in a half circle around the altar. Everyone gets a good seat. The music ministry has a place outside the sanctuary, to the left, but in a place that makes them part of the Mass, rather than being up in the choir loft behind and out of site.

Jim
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Music “ministers” should be seen, not heard. To the extent they are seen detracts from the Mass. They are there to assist the Mass, not to perform. Being situated next to the sanctuary encourages a performance mindset.

The purpose of the choir loft is to eliminate the performance mindset. Their voices should lift us up (like those of the invisible angels). There is great value in choir lofts.
 
Amen! Not to harp on a spelling error, but it was a convenient error: “out of sight” is not synonymous with “out of site.” Musicians by necessity have to shuffle papers and adjust organ registrations, and I would rather not have their motions distract from the altar. Why is it that an altar 20 feet ahead of the front pew is part of the “assembly” but a choir loft 10 feet above them is not?
 
lepanto said:
Music “ministers” should be seen, not heard. To the extent they are seen detracts from the Mass. They are there to assist the Mass, not to perform. Being situated next to the sanctuary encourages a performance mindset.

The purpose of the choir loft is to eliminate the performance mindset. Their voices should lift us up (like those of the invisible angels). There is great value in choir lofts.
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Amen! Not to harp on a spelling error by the poster you quoted, but it was a convenient error: “out of sight” is not synonymous with “out of site.” Why is it that an altar 20 feet ahead of the front pew is part of the congregation but a choir loft 10 feet above them is not? Nobody would complain that people in the cry room are isolated from the worshipping community!
 
didymus said:
Looking at the pics all I can say is it could be worse. At least all the pews are facing the same way and the altar is up front instead of the [choke!] “theater in the round” style. There’s a crucifix prominently displayed so you can tell it’s a Catholic church.

If you want to see a real cathedral come to Albany:

http://www.cathedralic.com/center_shot.jpg

http://www.cathedralic.com/cathedhome.jpg

Some folks are criticising Bishop Hubbard for “wasting” money on renovating the Cathedral at a time when parishes are being closed. I figure it’s a family heirloom and we shouldn’t let it crumble.
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Albany happens to be my diocese of current residence (there are several reasons for wishing it were not so, but let’s not go there just now). I’m sure it is extremely nice that there are a number of very fine neo-Gothic churches here, including besides the cathedral very beautiful structures such as St. James in middle-of-nowhere-almost-ghetto lower Albany and Immaculate Conception in the small working town of Corinth, which happens to be my parish and where my father was an altar boy and my parents were married many decades ago.

The issue is not whether there are many very attractive neo-this-or-that Catholic churches in the US. They exist in abundance. The issue is whether it is possible to build a modern church that is faithful both to tradition and modern standards of architectural excellence. Building a 1/6 scale version of the the Lourdes Basilica, which is already a neo structure, like St. Patrick’s in Watervliet (and it is an extremely beautiful church) no longer works.

I have further thoughts on the topic but it is rather exhausting, is it not? I’d like to hear from other posters and perhaps a dialogue would be better.
 
lepanto said:
Music “ministers” should be seen, not heard. To the extent they are seen detracts from the Mass. They are there to assist the Mass, not to perform. Being situated next to the sanctuary encourages a performance mindset.

The purpose of the choir loft is to eliminate the performance mindset. Their voices should lift us up (like those of the invisible angels). There is great value in choir lofts.
Click to expand...
Music minister should be seen not heard? What’s their purpose if you can’t hear them? 🙂

In the Church I mentioned, the music was hardly a distraction and their place in the Church couldn’t be better.

Jim
 
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