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Church Renovation Committee
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Parish Education BulletinsBuilt of Living Stones, Chapter Two:“The Church Buildings and the Sacred Rites Celebrated There” |
This is the second installment of several summaries of the document Built of Living Stones. This document contains the building code established by the Catholic Church for churches and holy places of worship. It was written by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2000 as the latest codification for building or renovating worship spaces.
This overview will provide basic information contained in the document from the American Bishops. St. Theresa’s Renovation Committee encourages you to read the entire document Built of Living Stones for the best possible understanding of the guidelines we are following to make informed decisions in the renovation of our worship space. This second summary will highlight elements of the second chapter of the document, specifically, how the celebration of the Eucharist influences the design of the Sanctuary.
The celebration of the Eucharist is the center of our life as Christians and therefore is the starting point for church design. The building should also be suited for Holy Week and the Paschal Triduum, prayer before the Blessed Sacrament and other devotions we hold near and dear.
Our Church building is already suitable for active and full participation in the Eucharistic Celebration by our community. Liturgy has no passive spectators.
The improvements that are being considered by the Renovation Committee have to do with some spatial adjustments for ease of movement within the sanctuary area, seating for the priest and altar servers, and lighting. The ambo - also known as the pulpit - as it is placed now, has little space for altar servers and priest when the Gospel is proclaimed. No one using a wheelchair or with physical challenges can read from the ambo. Our work with our qualified and prayerful architect, Pierre Belhumeur, will result in an adjustment in the area of the ambo to accommodate altar servers and priest more comfortably, and allow for persons with handicaps to read. A ramp will be designed to help those in wheelchairs and those who have difficulty with steps to approach the ambo with ease and dignity. Our altar servers will no longer sit on “kitchen chairs” and the priest will have a place for hymnal and other books on the side of his chair.
Most lectors and celebrants of the Eucharist have difficulty reading text and seeing the community gathered in the Church. At the evening celebration of the Eucharist, the beauty of the wood in our church is lost to bad lighting. We are working toward a big improvement in lighting so that all can read, see the community gathered, and appreciate the original beauty of our wooden church.
Next ... Chapter 2, continued: The Baptistry
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