1517: Random Pic

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

I forget the name of this church. It is located near the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Bill Legge said...: I believe that is St. Francis Xavier on Green St.; October 6, 2009 at 9:34 PM
Ryan H. said...: I miss beautiful churches. It's a great shame that Romanesque/Gothic architecture is no longer popular.; October 6, 2009 at 11:26 PM
Todd Pruitt said...: Yeah. I regret the trend popularized in the 80's to make church buildings resemble low slung office buildings.

Leon Poddles, a Christian sociologist wrote a book called "The Church Impotent" which examines the exodus of men from the church. Among the possible reasons for this is the softening (or feminizing) of church architecture. Interesting.; October 7, 2009 at 8:28 AM
Ryan H. said...: Interesting. I also recall a study that suggested non-Christians were more drawn to the architecture of Romanesque/Gothic churches than they were to the functional, allegedly "non-threatening" and "comfortable" spaces of contemporary American churches. For me, that's a no-brainer... of course people are going to be drawn to something beautiful over something ugly.

Modern evangelicalism doesn't have the highest view of the arts in any category (a great, great tragedy in my mind, and one that ultimately has limited the church's effectiveness in these days), but I wish they'd have a greater respect for architecture, if only because the space in which we worship can greatly help us with our worship.; October 7, 2009 at 11:20 AM