Posted on 07/11/2014 3:24:06 PM PDT by NYer
One of the basic principles of modern architecture is “form follows function.” In other words, ask what a building is for and you will know how it should be built. When you are building a garage or an office building or a hospital or a school things a fairly straightforward: a garage is to protect a car and store things. An office building is a place where people work safely and efficiently. A hospital has to have everything necessary for the health care, treatment and comfort of its patients. That’s easy enough.
Architects will quibble about the “form follows function” dictum, but assuming that there is at least some truth to it, we can then ask, “What is a church for?” If we are being merely practical about it, a church is for people to gather for divine worship. Therefore the seating should be comfortable. Everyone should be able to see the altar and the pulpit. There should be a good sound system and adequate amenities like air conditioning, heating and toilets and cry rooms and bride rooms. However, is a church simply an auditorium? Many modern Protestant churches are built with this criteria. All that is required is a large, comfortable, efficient space for everyone to meet.
The Catholic tradition offers something greater. When we ask what a Catholic Church is for the answer is more than simply an auditorium. Within the Catholic tradition the Church building has more than a practical function. Therefore if “form follows function” we have to ask what these other functions might be for a Catholic church.
A Catholic Church is first and foremost God’s house. It is where the Divine Presence resides. It is not primarily where we come to meet one another. It is where we all come to meet God. God is here and we come here to worship him. The fellowship we share and the community we build is part of our greater life together that flows from our worship of God in God’s house.
If the Catholic Church is first and foremost God’s temple–and not just an auditorium–then it’s function is greater than the simple practical demands of good seating, a good sound system and practical amenities. Now the function of a Catholic Church becomes something harder to define and more difficult to put into a blueprint.
If the Catholic Church is God’s house, then it should be worthy of the Divine Presence. It should speak to us of the dwelling place of God on earth and point us to the dwelling place of God in heaven. In fact, it should be a place called “Bethel”. This is the place where Jacob saw the ladder into heaven with the angels going up and down. He cried out, “This is the very threshold of heaven and the doorstep of God!” In other words, a church should be so beautiful that it points our hearts and minds not only to the presence of God here, but to Holy of Holies in Heaven.
Furthermore, the church should speak of the qualities of the One who dwells there. So the Catholic Church should be beautiful. How do we make it beautiful? We can make it beautiful by putting pretty things in it, but this is only ornamentation. For a church to be truly beautiful it needs not just pretty things in it; it has to be beautiful from the depth of its design. The beauty can’t be just skin deep. It has to be integral to the building as a whole. It has to be beautiful from the ground up and has to be designed from the beginning as a beautiful building.
How does one ensure that a building is beautiful at this deep level? This is not an easy question to answer, but the classical answer is that the dimensions and proportions of beauty were established by the architects of the classical world, and these beautiful proportions have come down to us through 2000 years of Christian tradition in architecture. Therefore, when the church is designed these classical proportions should be incorporated so that the essential design of the building at its very heart will be, in itself, beautiful. When we experience these classical proportions we feel the beauty of the design at a deep level in our souls.
Another function of this temple of God is that it should inspire feelings of wonder and awe. There should be a sense of spaciousness and grandeur–even in a small church–which lifts the heart and mind to heaven. These feelings of wonder and awe open the heart to the beauty which lies at the heart of the church, and at the very heart of God. These feelings prepare the soul for worship and help to bring the soul into the presence of God who dwells in this temple.
Another function of the Catholic Church is that it instructs. It is a sermon in stone. It tells everyone who sees it, from the inside to the outside, certain truths about the Catholic faith–that the Catholic faith is beautiful and permanent and strong. That the Catholic faith has inner integrity and honesty and truth. All these things are deep, down impressions that register profoundly within the human heart and mind. The decoration of the church will also seek to instruct. We do not install stained glass and mosaics and wall paintings and carvings just to make it look pretty. All of these things reflect the beauty of God and the eloquent beauty of our Catholic faith.
Finally, the function of a Catholic Church is to connect the faithful with the great Tradition. A traditionally conceived and constructed Catholic Church puts the worshiper within the great stream of tradition that stretches back two thousand years. In a traditionally minded church the modern day worshiper steps into the Catholic tradition and has his own modern concerns swallowed up in something far greater.
How do we build a traditional church, therefore, in the modern age? We follow the classical proportions when designing the church, and we try to establish an honest relationship between methods and materials. Finally, we do this with materials that are contemporary to our place and time, and are therefore affordable and simple and strong.
When we do all these things together we should therefore produce a church which fulfills all the functions that we expect from a Catholic Church–not just the practical functions of sound system, seating, toilets and storage. Instead we will also fulfill the function stated by the unknown architect of Glastonbury Abbey in England in the Middle Ages, who said, “I want to build a church so beautiful that even the hardest heart will be inspired to pray.”
Fr Dwight Longenecker’s latest book is The Romance of Religion–Fighting for Goodness, Truth and Beauty. Visit his blog, browse his books and be in touch at dwightlongenecker.com
image: Basilica of St. Therese of Lisieux in Normandy France / Shutterstock
As an example, here is the interior of SaddleBack Church in CA.
Ping!
“I want to build a church so beautiful that even the hardest heart will be inspired to pray.”
Anyone who is not demon possessed, that has been to St. Pat’s in NYC or to any church in Europe knows that these places were put together for such a purpose, that anyone is welcome in the building and that the beauty is inspiring.
Yet people call for the Church to sell all it’s wealth to provide people with stuff. Dennis Miller was whining about it last week on his show claiming to be Catholic.
Mother Angelica said that the churches built in the ‘70s look like the back of a rocket ship.
She’s right.
Here, we have a preaching hall. It is not just an ugly church or an ugly building, it is the ugliest place to be in for miles around.
The priest preaches on and on and on. Communion is a race - lining up people to go out and give communion, takes more time than giving communion to the whole congregation that the priest does across town.
George Weigel wrote about it tin the Cathedral and the Cube
That looks like a convention center not a church.
So does the architectural review of the Crystal Cathedral change when the building went from an RCA church to an RC cathedral?
Came across this the other day.
When some people think of Vatican City, what they immediately picture is something like a wealthy kingdom, complete with palatial living accommodations for the pope and chests of gold tucked away in every corner, not to mention the fabulous collection of priceless art and artifacts. Looking at it that way, it's easy to see how some people would become indignant at what they think is an ostentatious and wasteful show of wealth.
But the truth is something quite different. While the main buildings are called the "Vatican Palace," it wasn't built to be the lavish living quarters of the pope. In fact, the residential part of the Vatican is relatively small. The greater portion of the Vatican is given over to purposes of art and science, administration of the Church's official business, and management of the Palace in general. Quite a number of Church and administrative officials live in the Vatican with the pope, making it more like the Church's main headquarters.
As for the impressive art collection, truly one of the finest in the world, the Vatican views it as "an irreplaceable treasure," but not in monetary terms. The pope doesn't "own" these works of art and couldn't sell them if he wanted to; they're merely in the care of the Holy See. The art doesn't even provide the Church with wealth; actually, it's just the opposite. The Holy See invests quite a bit of its resources into the upkeep of the collection.
The truth of the matter is that the See has a fairly tight financial budget. So why keep the art? It goes back to a belief in the Church's mission (one of many) as a civilizing force in the world. Just like the medieval monks who carefully transcribed ancient texts so they would be available to future generations — texts that otherwise would have been lost forever — the Church continues to care for the arts so they will not be forgotten over time. In today's culture of death where the term "civilization" can only be used loosely, the Church's civilizing mission is as important today as it ever was.
As a protestant, i agree with the Catholic and Orthodox view. A building should inspire reverence. The building should be a sermon in stone.
I like the Orthodox building with a dome that conveys that place as a small part of heaven invited to earth.
But i believe also that church is where the believers are.
Brilliant. Thank you.
sure nuff...
For the Catholic, a church is not just a place where we worship, it is a means WITH WHICH we worship.
I have experienced the Divine Presence in both types of churches, the convention-center and the cathedral. Also chapels, outdoor setups, living-room church gatherings, and in my home office. It is not because I am wonderful, because I am not, but because God is wonderful, and He is wonderful because He is God.
In short, the church needs to be everywhere, and it needs every type of architecture to fulfill the Bride's purpose.
Nothing inspiring about that church.
We crossed the Tiber after 20 years of rich blessings in Protestant churches. One day during that RCIA year I had a revelation. The Catholic Churches were beautiful because they were built to hold the Body of Christ - not the body of believers, but the Eucharist. Beauty is one of the Great Virtues that lift they eyes of the believer from the mundane life here on Earth towards heaven.
Mat 18:20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
The building is made from God's creation...
The believers are where the "church" is
Mat_6:21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Mat_19:21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
And when Jesus was in Bethania, in the house of Simon the leper, [7] There came to him a woman having an alabaster box of precious ointment, and poured it on his head as he was at table. [8] And the disciples seeing it, had indignation, saying: To what purpose is this waste? [9] For this might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. [10] And Jesus knowing it, said to them: Why do you trouble this woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me.
[11] For the poor you have always with you: but me you have not always. [12] For she in pouring this ointment upon my body, hath done it for my burial. [13] Amen I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which she hath done, shall be told for a memory of her. [14] Then went one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, to the chief priests, [15] And said to them: What will you give me, and I will deliver him unto you? But they appointed him thirty pieces of silver.
See, Judas was offended by Our Lord being given expensive gifts, just as the Judases of today are. Sad, but along with the poor, we will always have heretics, pagans and the Judas or two.
We go to church for fellowship, to worship and hear the words of God preached...That's what is inspiring...
I stood in a barn or what was once a goat shed and listened to the preaching of a spirit filled preacher and the room was filled with the Spirit of God...The same shed where once my feet were washed by the pastor...I have never been in a more Holy environement (and yes I have been in Catholic churches)...
Ha, if only you were right...Judas, like the Catholic religion wants to keep the treasures for itself...None of that stuff is a gift to Jesus...What would he want it for...
HaHa...The women (unlike the Catholic religion) gave her treasure to Jesus to be used as an ointment for his burial...And he used it...Jesus doesn't use any of your gold and jewels...They are earthly treasures of your religion...
Church is more than fellowship. What do you worship in a barn — the horse manure?
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