Worshipers leave the Crystal Cathedral after a service in March.
Posted on 06/10/2012 9:49:57 AM PDT by marshmallow
The name Christ Cathedral was selected from 4,129 submissions received from around the world. Father Christopher H. Smith is named to the top post at the cathedral, which the diocese bought for $57.5 million.
When Father Christopher H. Smith was a child, he'd peek through the eucalyptus trees in his grandparents' yard on Sunday mornings at the drive-in theater next door to watch a man give a sermon on the top of a tar-papered snack bar, the same place where he'd grab his popcorn on movie evenings.
The man atop the snack bar was the Rev. Robert H. Schuller, preaching from humble beginnings at the Orange Drive-In Theater.
"We thought that was very cool," Smith said.
Now, decades later, Smith has found himself linked to Schuller once again. On Saturday, he was officially named to the top post of Episcopal vicar at the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange's new central church in Orange County — the Crystal Cathedral.
"Never in a million years did I think that somehow I'd be connected with that man and what he built," Smith said of Schuller and the architecturally spectacular church that the preacher founded.
The diocese also announced a new name for the Crystal Cathedral: Christ Cathedral. It was picked from 4,129 submissions from all over the world. Suggested names included Christ the King, Cathedral of the Transfiguration and, amusingly, The Church of What's Happening Now.
The new name is the latest in a series of steps in the transformation of the evangelical church to one of the Catholic faith, which began with a judge approving the diocese's purchase of the bankrupt Crystal Cathedral for $57.5 million in November.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
“Never in a million years did I think that somehow I’d be connected with that man and what he built,” Smith said of Schuller and the architecturally spectacular church that the preacher founded.”
Destiny?
The Church of What's Happening Now
:-)
(Shouldn't that be "the Cathedral of What's Happening Now"?)
Thats not exactly something someone should go about bragging about.
Admittedly, I do not know much about the subject, but that sure does seem like an awful lot of money for the diocese to spend on that monstrosity. Aren’t there boarded up Catholic churches that could have been rehabbed for a lot less money? Will they ever fill that place at a Sunday Mass?
< /only slight sarcasm >
It is often suggested that Catholic Churches left behind by demographic shifts could be moved or reopened to meet current space needs. However, when it is actually tried, the costs are much higher than anticipated. Rehabbing an old building, including updates to current code and standards, is incredibly costly. Old buildings are often in locations not easily accessed today, and few have anything but minimal parking space.
The value of the erstwhile Crystal Cathedral is largely the land it and its parking lot sit on, plus the fact that it is a standing building, not one that might never be built in today’s regulatory climate.
I like that!
Light of Christ Cathedral
I submitted Transfiguration Cathedral. I thought it would be beautiful to name it for one of the Luminous mysteries. I guess that was too Catholic too!
I read an article that said one of the reasons they selected Christ Cathedral was that it wouldn’t offend the members of the original church that built it.
I think Christ Cathedral sounds quite dull— but then again, Tod Brown is a very dull speaker.
I am sure that the “Crystal Cathedral” name will survive for many years.
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