continue at Traditional BuildingOne of the most insidious strictures of the conventional wisdom mandates that any new church needs 20 acres. This 20-acre rule reminds me of the 65-ft. rule that some experts claim requires us to build churches in the round. The theory is that people seated more than 65 ft. away from the altar cannot see very well, and therefore cannot participate in the liturgy.
Where to find 25 acres at an economical price? Why, the cornfield, of course. The reasons given for the necessity of a large tract of land are playing fields, convenient parking, and future growth. Yet these factors should not be seen as the primary goals in building a house of God, but should be balanced with the rich history of churches built in the midst of our towns and cities.
To put the 25-acre rule into context, consider that a traditional parish church in a small town with 800 seats, a grade-school, a playground, a rectory, and on and off street parking typically takes up three to six acres. Surprisingly, one of the most well known and largest of American cathedrals, Saint Patrick's, sits on a block in Manhattan of only two acres.
The reality is that 20 acres is the equivalent of a small college campus – for instance, "God Quad" at Notre Dame includes the Basilica of the Sacred Heart, the Golden Dome, and seven other buildings. In fact, the greatest church in all of Christendom, Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, sits on only nine acres while its piazza takes up an additional nine acres. Twenty acres is certainly huge, but what are good reasons for not building in the cornfield?
Great article, I'm in total agreement.
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1 comment:
Great stuff!
Say what you will about Europe but it is nice to see that from Moscow to Madrid and from Sicily to Scandinavia in nearly every town and village right near the center one will find a parish Church (Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, etc.) and it is usually one of the oldest and most lovely buildings in town, everyone hears the bells ringing, some people stop in to pray, etc. at the very least it is a reminder of what their ancestors (if not the modern residents) hold dear. I recall visiting a (rather secular) friend in a German village and he was still very proud of his town's nice little 450 year old Lutheran Church and glad to show me around.
This idea of building these cornfield churches in the middle of nowhere seems to fit well with a very post-modern idea of religion. Namely it is something that those who aren't interested in should never even be slightly exposed to and those who are interested in it can comute to the site for one hour a week and then forget about it. Having lived in a major European city and a European village it is nice to pass by the church (or several) during the course of my usual day and stop in to pray or think or just marvel.
In the USA the idea of getting into my car, driving 20 minutes to a grey, 'fan shaped' building with a big parking lot and less Catholic imagery than the average great-grandma's guest-room, and is probably locked anyway, is rather unappealing and is probably not the sort of place I'd take a visitor on a tour of my town.
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