As St. Paul wrote in his first letter to
the Corinthians: "I did the planting, Apollos did the watering,
but God made things grow. Neither the planter nor the waterer
matters: only God, who makes things grow." In dealing with
ineffective liturgical space, the virtue of patience is difficult
to arouse. The place of worship exerts a controlling influence
on everything else that takes place within it. Unless pastors
and those entrusted with the care of the liturgy address the
shape and use of the worship environment, the potential of our
rites to be instruments of God's transforming power will be weakened.
It has been said that "it is easier to act our way into
a new way of thinking than to think our way into a new way of
acting." The rites of our worship call us to do the "acting"
that makes us an assembly. Many of our present spaces hinder
this goal of human interaction.The very lessons of the liturgy
can be lost when the space itself stands in the way of full and
active participation. We continue to pour new wine into old wineskins
and defeat the original intention of our liturgical renewal --
to be formed into "living stones making a spiritual house."(1
Pt 2:5)
In most of our long, narrow spaces, our
ritual words betray us. The presider prays, in the second eucharistic
prayer for reconciliation, "You have gathered us here around
the table of your Son." Yet, how many parishioners in most
of our churches would admit to feeling gathered around the table
at Sunday Eucharist. The lyrics of our songs "gather us
in," however, in many of our bui ldings, we sit scattered
about or row by narrow row, looking only at the back of one another's
heads. There is little possibility for the eye contact required
by authentic communication and interpersonal communion. Church
teaching calls for active participation in the Mass, but we enter
spaces that instinctively make us spectators watching the action
on a "stage." Most of our spaces fail in helping us
to see and experience the Sunday eucharistic assembly as "the
most fundamental ecclesial symbol" (EACW, #63).
We shall overcome -- in God's good time.
The building is not the Church, but only the "skin"
or "shelter" for the Church. Any effort toward the
ongoing catechesis of our assemblies will move us along the path
the Church has embraced. Hopefully, these models for parish preparation
can add some momentum and inspiration to the task.
In the meantime, small steps can be taken
as we continue. Certainly, parishes that are building new worship
spaces need not repeat the m istakes of the past or build new
structures which clearly undermine the principles of contemporary
church teaching, liturgical theology and practice, and the experience
of effective ritual. The importance of the role of the liturgical
consultant is more obvious now. Much more cooperation is needed
at the diocesan level among pastors who are building new worship
spaces, diocesan environment and art commissions and the diocesan
building or design review committee. Architects ought to be encouraged
and informed about the principles that are set forth in the document
on Environment and Art in Catholic Worship, as well as the other
pertinent liturgical documents. With their expertise, diocesan
environment committee members can offer much information, assistance
and support to architects, diocesan committees, pastors and parishes.
Each local community is unique; each parish
has its own artistic taste and style. However, taste and style
need to be wedded to the liturgical tradit ion within which we
find ourselves. This is part of the creative challenge that makes
us "one, holy, catholic and apostolic." The document
on Environment and Art in Catholic Worship addresses the importance
of liturgy and tradition.
Common traditions carried on, developed
and realized in each community make liturgy an experience of
the Church which is both local and universal. The roots as well
as the structure of its liturgical celebrations are biblical
and ecclesial, asserting a communion with believers of all times
and places. This tradition furnishes the symbol language of that
action, along with structures and patterns refined through centuries
of experience, and gives the old meanings new life in our time,
our place, with our new knowledge, talents, competencies, arts.
Therefore, this celebration is that of a community at a given
place and time, celebrated with the best of its resources, talents
and arts in light of our own tradition. (#10)
Blending the best of our hi storical tradition
with contemporary needs, communities that are engaged in the
building process can lead the way for the Church in providing
spaces that allow for "full and active participation"
in the liturgy.
Presently, many communities cannot afford
to build or to undergo extensive renovation and remodeling of
their worship space. There is still much that can be done, however,
to enhance participative worship, even in spaces that work against
it. Pastors and planners can help to expand the assembly's experience
of the "sanctuary" -- the holy place -- as being the
entire area in which they gather. The choir can move in procession
occasionally, filling the entire space with their sound and presence.
The gospel could be proclaimed at the midpoint of a long, narrow
center aisle, thus offering the good news from the midst of the
assembly. The action of lectors being seated with the assembly
and going to the ambo from their place in the pew can create
a strong impression upo n others that ministry arises from the
people themselves. Encouraging people to introduce themselves
and greet one another before the liturgy begins can break down
barriers of isolation. In spaces that have more seating capacity
than necessary, excess pews can be removed to bring the people
closer to the front and to create a larger gathering space or
space for the baptismal font in the rear of the building. Chairs
or flexible seating could replace pews at the front of the space
to accommodate multi-functional needs.
As parishioners experience varied uses
of the worship space, even through small efforts, they will begin
to "learn by doing." The interactive nature of the
liturgy and our sacramental celebrations will become more apparent.
Ritual action that comes alive within the assembly will be able
to carry out its formative role. The assembly itself will begin
to experience the value and need for space that provides for
interaction among the participants.
Ritual action t hat the assembly can see
and touch will help to open up our symbols. Position the catechumens
and their sponsors down the aisles of the church for the signing
of the senses during the Rite of Acceptance. On Holy Thursday,
plan for some of the action of the mandatum, the foot-washing,
to take place in various sections of the church so that many
parishioners will be a part of and close to the ritual action.
Let the Easter banners and decorations grace the entire area
of the building and encircle the assembly with their glad tidings.
Use the blessing and sprinkling with baptismal water more frequently
to begin the Sunday Eucharist, thus putting the assembly in touch
with a primary sacramental symbol and moving the presider throughout
the congregation. These are only a few suggestions of how the
ritual action, liturgical symbols and the worship environment
can enhance participation and the feeling of togetherness, even
when the structure itself works against such feelings.
An eff ective learning tool for clergy
and parish committees is a driving tour of local chapels and
church buildings. By seeing first hand how other communities
-- Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox -- have shaped and dressed
their spaces for worship, parish leaders can gain insight into
new possibilities, as well as mistakes to be avoided. Likewise,
there are many liturgical resources which present excellent photographs
and design drawings of new and remodeled spaces for worship.
These too can furnish a wealth of knowledge for those who are
responsible for the liturgy and its space.
Significant care, attention and financial
resources have been given to the art and environment for the
papal visits to this country in the past two decades.These are
well-documented at the diocesan level.The experience of these
visits can provide ideas and artistic resources for the arrangement
of space, the design and crafting of liturgical furnishings,
the production of worship aids, the effective use of ritual and
the well-orchestrated functioning of the various liturgical ministries.
Contact with the diocesan office of worship can provide these
and other resources which will help the community to increase
its understanding and opportunities for renovation.
Finally, it is through mutual sharing and
communication that the Church's task of reshaping our worship
spaces will take root and grow. For instance, the seed for my
own approach to pastoral preparation for renovation was actually
planted about ten years ago through a short article in PACE,
a catechetical magazine published by St. Mary's Press, Christian
Brothers Publications. The article, entitled "Educating
a Parish for Church Renovation," by Mary G. Shannon, Director
of Religious Education at St. Francis de Sales Church in Holland,
Michigan, appeared in PACE 18, November, 1987. It described "how
one parish avoided the dissatisfaction that too often results
from renovating a church building, and made the renovat ion an
opportunity for a Lenten Journey and a form of adult education."
When the need arose in my own parish for
some kind of educational tool or process to help the community
prepare for renovation, I returned to the article which I had
read previously and contacted the author. She graciously sent
me the outline and material of the Lenten series she prepared,
with comments about its success and shortcomings, and encouraged
me to use it within my parish. With appropriate adaptations for
my own community's issues and concerns, it served as the basis
for "Our Welcoming Home," a Lenten discussion series.
The fruit of one renovation project aided the success of another.
If the virtue of hospitality, emphasized in the construction
and renovation of worship spaces, is about the act of people
being present to one another, then we can begin by applying that
virtue to the support and encouragement we offer each o ther
in our mutual ministry of renewing the Church.
William James once wrote: "Man alone,
of all the creatures of the earth, can change his own pattern.
Man alone is the architect of his own destiny. The greatest discovery
in our generation is that human beings, by changing the inner
attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their
lives." It is the inner attitude of mind and heart that
must change if we are going to be "at home" with a
new or renewed home for the Church, the domus ekklesia. The purpose
of catechetical and liturgical formation is to entice and encourage
the inner transformation of the community that must begin before
an outer structure can be built or renovated.
Those who work in liturgical ministry can
look at a worship space and see how it could easily be renovated.
We can sketch a design for a new space that would meet contemporary
liturgical requirements. We might say, with the eighteenth century
mat mhematician, Karl Friedrich Gauss, "I have had my solutions
for a long time. But I do not yet know how I am to arrive at
them." Our pressing task is to understand how we arrive
at our solutions and to communicate that effectively to the assembly.
If liturgy is the work of all the baptized, then concern for
the space in which that liturgy is celebrated is likewise the
concern of all the baptized.Through engaging catechesis and inspiring
liturgical practice, we can help to foster an inner renewal of
the assembly that will bring life to our worship wherever it
is celebrated, even as we reshape the home of the Church.
