GetReligion
Sunday, September 9, 2007

Stone from which a church was made

Posted by tmatt

You don’t see many mainstream newspaper stories focusing on
architecture, let alone one that digs into what church architecture
might say about the people who worship under a particular roof.

That’s why it was a pleasure to read Deborah Schoch’s story in the Los
Angeles Times about the new stone sanctuary built in Pasadena, Calif.,
by members of St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Apostolic
Church. The one thing that the story didn’t do that I, as an Orthodox
Christian, wanted it to do was dig into the ancient Eastern roots of
the traditions and Traditions that shaped this flock and its
sanctuary.

But the story gets so many details right and then follows them up with
nice connections to other modern trends. Here is the opening of the
story:

In an age when new churches can be as boxy and boring as shopping
malls, the members of St. Gregory the Illuminator longed for arches.

They craved warm-hued stone dug from quarries in their ancestors’
Armenia. While other growing parishes settled for former banks or
castoff older churches, this parish housed in a former Coca-Cola
distribution center wanted a building all its own – a brand-new
structure but one that would look centuries old.

Now, the graceful dome of their new stone-walled church rises 85 feet
above the auto parts stores of Pasadena’s Colorado Boulevard, a
silhouette that recalls the skyline of Athens or Cairo.

Or Jerusalem, or Antioch, or Constantinople.

This story gets the locals and it gets the ethnic connection to the
old country. What it misses is the actual Christian traditions that
serve as the bridge. Who are these priests? What is the history of
all of this beauty?

And why did these people go to so much expense and trouble to build
this temple?

The stone itself becomes the symbol:

As those members put the finishing touches on the new St. Gregory the
Illuminator Armenian Apostolic Church, they are rejoicing in the
triumph of tradition: a marble-framed baptismal font, jewel-toned
stained-glass windows and particularly the rounded arches both outside
the church and setting off its glowing cream interior. . . .

`We didn’t want a box. We wanted arches,’ said project manager Hampo
Nazerian, motioning at the windows and dome.

`They’re inviting, they’re warm, not squared or cold. Arches are like
arms outstretched,’ said longtime volunteer Marguerite Hougasian,
whose father helped start the Pasadena parish in 1947. The new
church’s Old World style reflects the importance of tradition in the
1,700-year-old Armenian faith, she said. `It’s a way of strengthening
and holding to the faith, keeping us bonded to our belief.’

This is where the story takes off into some interesting American
territory.

What about the glass-and-steel boxes of the modern megachurch? Why are
Roman Catholic churches beginning to wonder if they have drifted too
far from traditional architectural forms? Why do some people yearn for
stone, stained glass, icons, marble and beauty whole others turn away
into modern forms of one kind or another?

The story raises good questions. Enjoy.

Photo: Inside an ancient Armenian church dome.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress