{"id":21192,"date":"2016-01-26T09:53:23","date_gmt":"2016-01-26T14:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=21192"},"modified":"2016-01-26T09:53:23","modified_gmt":"2016-01-26T14:53:23","slug":"from-trendy-zendy-architecture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2016\/01\/from-trendy-zendy-architecture.html","title":{"rendered":"From Trendy Zendy Architecture…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"new<\/a>\u2026good Lord deliver us.<\/p>\n

Have we not learned our lessons from the decaying, carpeted crashed flying saucer churches that litter our American suburbs?<\/p>\n

Here is an article<\/a> that gushes lovingly over the designs for a new church in New Jersey by New York architect Carlo Enzo.<\/p>\n

Amenities include gallery and museum space to attract visitors to the building on days without religious services. The ground-level exterior incorporates a Zen-like reflecting pool, and a \u201csky chapel\u201d perched at the building\u2019s highest point accommodates up to 30 people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt is it is not simply a holy place,\u201d Enzo said. \u201cIt is a place where one can begin to connect to their own ideas and their own sensations and feelings. To that extent rituals can be performed and at the same time one could just sit there and observe what is going on inside himself.\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh dear. Is it possible that the architect in charge of the job has so little understanding of what a church is for?<\/p>\n

To be fair, we\u2019re not told if this church is Catholic or not. It\u2019s just called \u201cThe Church of the Holy Spirit\u201d so it could be a Protestant chapel. Certainly the architect\u2019s ideas of spirituality being a way to \u201cexplore what is going on inside of himself\u201d would jive with current Episcopalian thought.<\/p>\n

When you think further about it however, the statement \u201cobserve what is going on inside of himself\u201d sounds rather medical, as if one is giving oneself an ultrasound scan or a colonoscopy. But I digress.<\/p>\n

The old architectural saw is that \u201cform follows function\u201d and what the modern church architect doesn\u2019t get is what the function of a church might be. It\u2019s not really a place to connect with your inner Zen. Its not a place to study what is going on inside of yourself. If it is a Catholic Church, then it is a temple for God\u2019s Son \u00a0present in the sacrament of the altar and it is a place to offer the Sacred Sacrifice.<\/p>\n

Geesh, if I wanted to connect with nature and explore my innards I\u2019d either get a colonoscopy or go sit on a mountaintop.<\/p>\n

What really gets my goat about this project is that the cost is $28 million bucks, but you can bet you\u2019ll never hear any of the lefty hipsters say, \u201cHow can you spend so much money on a church when there are poor people who need housing?\u201d Somehow or other that narrative will be forgotten.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>
New Church of Our Lady of the Rosary Greenville, SC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But try to raise a measly $5m for this church<\/a>\u00a0which is traditional and you can bet all those moans and groans will be deafening.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, as they haven\u2019t raised the $28m bucks there\u2019s a good chance they won\u2019t be able to. Perhaps all ordinary people with good sense who don\u2019t fancy worshipping in a cross between a seventies railroad station and an art gallery will sit on their wallets and demand a church that looks like a church.<\/p>\n

One of the best comments I had when the drawings for our new church of Our Lady of the Rosary were presented was from one of the school kids who said in shocked and delighted wonder, \u201cWow Father! It looks like a\u00a0Catholic\u00a0<\/em>church!\u201d<\/p>\n

Indeed. Another pleasing thing I am observing as our new church is being built (go here<\/a> for a picture gallery of progress) is that folks say immediately and proudly, \u201cIt\u2019s going to be beautiful Father!\u201d. Just that little comment: \u201cIts going to be beautiful\u201d says it all.<\/p>\n

Will anyone ever say about the proposed Church of the Holy Spirit\u2013or any of the existing modernist buildings, \u201cIt\u2019s beautiful!\u201d I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

But beauty is the language of worship, so how can one worship if the language of worship is absent or brutalized?<\/p>\n

Rant over. \u2018Nuff said.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re still raising the last bit of money to build our modestly priced $5m church.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re especially looking for someone to donate a salvaged pipe organ we\u2019ve found and want to save and install.<\/p>\n

If you want to help drop me an email: dlongenecker1@gmail.com or go here<\/a> to make an instant donation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2026good Lord deliver us. Have we not learned our lessons from the decaying, carpeted crashed flying saucer churches that litter our American suburbs? Here is an article that gushes lovingly over the designs for a new church in New Jersey by New York architect Carlo Enzo. Amenities include gallery and museum space to attract visitors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":21193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Trendy Zendy Architecture...<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"...good Lord deliver us. Have we not learned our lessons from the decaying, carpeted crashed flying saucer churches that litter our American suburbs? 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