What would you do if you had to Build a Parish Church?

[Chris_W]

How much do you think that all will set me back?

That’s a good question in my opinion. Much as I like to see the beauty of exquisite materials and architecture, and much as I feel the inspiration of being in a church like that I would probably use simple materials and hire folks to find a way to make it inspiring, reverent and focused on the tabernacle. Then I’d find out what expertise exists within the congregation to build it.

The problem I have with elaborate plans is this: I belonged to a parish once which had one of the most beautiful churches in the region…old fashioned, but beauitiful and inspiring. They decided to “renovate” which to them meant hiring big city designers, architects, etc and then putting the project out to bid. In the end they determined we (the members of the parish) needed to come up with something like $4 million dollars to make their vision a reality. And every mass for about 1.5 years was a plea for more money.

They had charts up showing how much money had been raised. It got to like $3.7 million and seemed to stay there for a very long time (months?). And the plea for more money kept on coming every mass. It was very wearisome, but they would not break ground until they had $4 million dollars.

I left the parish. I don’t know when the charts showing how much money had been given finally came down, but they did do the renovation finally…and it is nice. But I liked it before the renovation too…and the church is less full now (though it did not increase in size).

I contrast that to a large Baptist church near my house where some friends of ours go to church: The church members hired professionals to help them come up with a plan based on what was feasible utilizing the expertise of the members of the church. Some were electricians, some were plumbers, some were framers, siders, sheetrock installers, etc. They chose a design and materials that thier own “laborers” could install. They had families come help landscsape. Of course they hired out some things (the paving for example) but much of it was done by the church members.

The result was a very nice looking building that all those people feel like they built…they belong to…they feel a part of…they take pride in. What a sense of community they have. And as the project unfolded, people dug deeper into their pockets because it felt like something they were doing.

In the parish I used to be a member of, we had no say in the design, the materials, the colors, the budget, the time frame, who did the work, nothing. Just bringing our wallets, seemed to be the extend of our involvement in “our” parish project.

So if I were put in charge, the first thing I’d do is have a bunch of whole parish meetings to decide together what “we” want and how “we” should go about accomplishing it (obviously within the guidlines set forth by the Church). If that meant a wood structure adorned with marble accents instead of marble floors, then that’s what it would be. It needs to be inspiring, reverent, and focused on the sacrifice of the mass. I would place as much importance on the effects of the structure and the project as I would on the elegance of it.

 

[Unfinished]

I’d be happy to just have altar rails and a gate blocking the sanctuary. Oh, and a high altar.

After that, everything else is just filler. If I have those three things I can make it pretty no matter what. Although I am a fan of white marble for the altar and whatnot.

 

[Ridgerunner]

First thing I would do is call Henry Menzies. Look him up on the internet. I’m impressed. Also, perhaps the head of the architecture dept at Notre Dame; Adam (?) Stroick. He’s on the internet too. If you look their names up, you’ll be pleased with their work, some of which is online.

 

[Ridgerunner]

If I had to try to design it myself, I would probably employ Amish woodworkers and find a parishioner with a lot of good trees. Every Amish community has its own sawmill. I would make it kind of an Italian/English blend, with huge, decorative, white oak beams in the ceiling, sitting on columns, which could be limestone if combined with wood like that, though marble in the sanctuary would be nice. If you hired an architect to get that wood, it would cost you all the money in the world. If you did it the way I said, it would cost less than you could imagine. (The Amish cut lots of the most beautiful oak you ever saw for railroad ties, and you could get those beams for tie prices. They get about $10.00 each for those ties, and the Amish know how to join beams without nails.)

But my favorite fantasy would be to have a U-shaped balcony, with the sides going nearly all the way to the proscenium over the sanctuary. The rear portion of the balcony would be for the adult choir. One side would be for the childrens’ choir. The other side would have a few pews and a large open space for wheeling in the wheelchairs from the skywalk to the CATHOLIC nursing home next door. The childrens’ choir on one side; the old folks on the other, looking down from their respective balconies onto the Henry Menzies-designed sanctuary below. Yes, and I would hire the best H2 immigration lawyer I could find to bring in workers from Guatemala, Nigeria and other poverty-stricken places to aid in taking care of the folks in the nursing home. You don’t need to speak more than a few words in English to do most of that work, if you have a good nursing staff.

You know, every diocese in this country could have its own nursing homes if it had the desire and energy to do it. They’re not hard to finance because, if you get your certificate of need, you’re practically guaranteed solvency by Medicaid. And it should put them right next to the churches and the Catholic schools. There is no doubt in my mind at all that many, many, many Catholic nurses, CNAs and CMTs would give serious wage concessions to work in a place like that. Could be the least expensive n.h. in the U.S., and the best. And yes, after Mass, I would have the kids help wheel the old folks back to their rooms.

Silly me.

 

[sneakers]

Mine would look just like this:
kansastravel.org/cathedralofheplains.htm
Only with more statues and more stained glass and more gilding and more…

Now THAT is what a Catholic Church should look like!

 

[scapularkid8]

Now THAT is what a Catholic Church should look like!

I’ve been to the Cathedral on the Plains and it is STUNNING!

 

[tmw]

I most certainly would not build it like this.

This is a travesty.

closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2006/10/cathedral-of-los-angeles-aka-taj.html

 

[OSPX]

I was wondering, if you were in charge of designing a new Catholic Church, what would you do?

I would build everything out of nice marble, put in beautiful statues, and have a High Altar put in.

I would build a small stone church with stained glass widows.
Marble High altar with a large canopy (like the one at st. peters but adjusted in size for this small church) stone altar rails, no novus ordo altar, a pretty little brick rectory, hard oak pews that start to hurt half way through the mass, a beautiful rose garden, wrought iron or marble statues of saints (none of that plastic candy looking stuff)

 

[proud2bcatholic]

I most certainly would not build it like this.

This is a travesty.

closedcafeteria.blogspot.com/2006/10/cathedral-of-los-angeles-aka-taj.html

And a really expensive travesty at that.

 

[tmw]

I’d build it like this: Shrine Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, Wisconsin.

I love this. What was the budget.

Our parish is preparing to build a new church and I’m afraid it will not be anything like this. Unfortunately, most of the churches being built now days look much like a Protestant meeting hall.

 

[Cavaille-Coll]

The church building should instantly remind the visitor that it is a place where God is worshipped, and the eye should be drawn toward the altar and tabernacle. My preference is Gothic, because this style is highly suggestive of “vertical” worship. It would be cruciform in shape, with a generous sanctuary and a communion rail. All pews would face the altar, rather than each other. Authenticity is of utmost importance in construction. No electronic organs or bells, fake marble, or cheap art. The organ will be a pipe organ, and it will be in a rear-mounted choir loft with adjacent, soundproofed practice room. The tower bells will be bronze and there will be several of them to be rung in different combinations for different feasts. Not a scrap of carpeting will be found, nor will a piano, an electric candle, or a recirculating hot tub. As for the budget, quality is more important than rapidity. It will be built as the money comes in and we will rely on the Lord to provide it. Churches in Mexico are built this way – they rarely have much of a budget to work with, but when the building is finally finished, few American churches of recent manufacture can compare with it. Rush jobs are usually poor jobs.

 

[somename]

Nicholas-

might i suggest:

adoremus.org/ArchArticles.html

…one of my favorite chariities.

 

[proud2bcatholic]

The church building should instantly remind the visitor that it is a place where God is worshipped, and the eye should be drawn toward the altar and tabernacle. My preference is Gothic, because this style is highly suggestive of “vertical” worship. It would be cruciform in shape, with a generous sanctuary and a communion rail. All pews would face the altar, rather than each other. Authenticity is of utmost importance in construction. No electronic organs or bells, fake marble, or cheap art. The organ will be a pipe organ, and it will be in a rear-mounted choir loft with adjacent, soundproofed practice room. The tower bells will be bronze and there will be several of them to be rung in different combinations for different feasts. Not a scrap of carpeting will be found, nor will a piano, an electric candle, or a recirculating hot tub. As for the budget, quality is more important than rapidity. It will be built as the money comes in and we will rely on the Lord to provide it. Churches in Mexico are built this way – they rarely have much of a budget to work with, but when the building is finally finished, few American churches of recent manufacture can compare with it. Rush jobs are usually poor jobs.

Very nice!