by Kathy Anderson
It was the end of a busy day as I slid into the booth of a little coffee shop on Marion Road. Across the table sat a relatively new friend I’d made serving on the Steering Committee, Darwin Wolf. Darwin has been the chair of our Worship Space Committee from its inception. I had asked Darwin to come share his thoughts. I wanted to know what he and his Worship Space Committee felt passionately about as our beautiful new west-side Catholic church was being designed and created. I wanted to know the philosophy that he and his committee worked from. Whom did he reference? And, is he happy with how things are coming together? As he talked, I sensed the deep yearning of a man who very much wants to do what is right. He and the Worship Space Committee have read volumes and truly want to follow the teachings of the Catholic Church. I recognized his passion and enthusiasm as he described the fervor and excitement of his last Worship Space Committee meeting, with many small subgroups researching, creating and reporting back on their progress. And I felt a great sense of peace as Darwin’s long exhale lead into his statement, “It’s all coming together. Even the littlest conflicts are working themselves out. It’s going to be great!”
So what is the philosophy that Darwin and the Worship Space Committee worked from? Basically, there were two: First, they wanted to follow as closely as possible to what was being heard from the parishioners: to start with a very basic, fundamental, traditional architecture that looked like a Catholic church. Second, to have a deep reverence for the Eucharist, which remarkably was also a passion of our patron saint, Saint Katharine Drexel. The two philosophies blended into one, as having the Eucharist foremost is a very basic, fundamental, traditional Catholic belief. From this strong desire to accentuate Christ’s magnificent sacrifice came the design of opening the solid sturdy doors of our church and immediately seeing the focal point within our worship space: crucifix, altar and tabernacle. The crucifix needs to be large. The altar needs to be made of a permanent material such as stone, to signify that the sacrifice that Jesus sustained for us is unchanging and forever. The tabernacle present within our worship space emphasizes our traditional Catholic belief of Christ’s true presence in the Eucharist. “The seating arrangement of a modified cruciform or fan-shaped plan, represented the best option of seating with the number of parishioners we have and the budget we have to work with,” says Darwin. With the seating arrangement and the gentle sloping of the floor, clear sightlines to the altar and the sacrifice of the Mass are maximized. All of the Worship Space Committee’s recommendations stemmed from a deep desire to emphasize and accentuate the sacrificial aspect of the Eucharist and respect for the Mass.
Other elements Darwin and the Worship Space Committee are really excited about are the two sets of Stations of the Cross that have been found from churches that have closed. The Stations Subcommittee is working with a woman from Rochester, MN who is applying layers of stains over the scenes, to make the colors more muted and appropriate for the color scheme of our worship space. After they are refurbished, they will be placed around the perimeter of the nave and each scene will have individual lighting. Darwin says that each size is in proportion to the space they occupy and he feels that with the special lighting they will be a beautiful addition to our worship space.
Another subcommittee is researching the design and cost options for our crucifix. They’ve spent many hours looking at options that follow specific directives on the corpus and the wooden cross. The overall height could be as tall as ten feet and would fit the space over the tabernacle very well.
Darwin reports that the wood Subcommittee is an enthusiastic and spirited group. They are designing and actually constructing the sanctuary furniture. These pieces include the presider’s chair, the ambo or pulpit, the tables and the ambry for the sacred oils. The drafts they are bringing to the committee meetings show strong sturdy pieces that are beautifully designed, yet subordinate to the mass and significance of the altar. What a special blessing to have the talent and desire of our very own parishioners making our exquisite pieces for our sanctuary!
When asked about statues, Darwin says they are holding off on getting statues until the church is complete. Once it’s complete, they can determine where we’d like to place them and then get statues that are proportionate to the spaces they will occupy. The Worship Committee really wants to have statues, but feels it’s important to do it right — therefore, they’ll wait.
“A baptismal font?” I asked. Darwin’s eyes sparkled and he grinned, “The baptismal font is going to be cool! Since the altar will probably be of rough stone, made of slabs very similar to the style of the altar used in the O’Gorman Jr. High gym (designed purposely to reference back to where our little parish started from), the baptismal font could be made from a big chunk of rock with the baptismal bowl polished out of it. The top surface would be polished smooth too.” Darwin reports that a final decision has not yet been made as that subcommittee is still researching cost. If the cost becomes prohibitive, the subcommittee will look for a font at a reclamation site. But if you remember, a member of the Finance Committee donated a large grill that the parish was able to raffle off. All the proceeds from that raffle have been set aside to be used for the font — so maybe our remarkable stone font is still attainable.
Now, what everyone has been waiting for — stained glass. We have our large, arched windows in the transepts on each side of the nave that would look lovely with stained glass. The small windows in the apse or semi-circular space behind the altar were designed to have colorful glass displayed to the world. The large rose window that greets everyone coming up our entry plaza would filter the spectacular southeastern rays of light and sprinkle our gathering space with all the hues God created. The small windows above our gathering space would filter rays of the rising, noon-day and setting sun, and send rainbows of color to all who gather below. And finally, the southern and western windows of our chapel--how lovely to be inspired by colorful scenes as we worship and adore. With a sigh, Darwin reports that it’s going to take a lot of time and patience to reach our goal of having stained glass. He says that the odds of having stained glass in our worship space before our completion date are not very good. The reason is financial limitations. He does have a subcommittee researching the subject matter and liturgical aspect of the specific scenes that could be created. He says that sometimes a parish will use their mother parish’s saint and their own saint as subjects in the stained glass. In our case, we could have a beautiful scene of our patron saint or other saints. For now, Darwin reports that we will wait with hopeful anticipation of someday celebrating the placement of stained glass in our beautiful worship space. With the incredible generosity of God’s people, maybe a miracle will occur and a donation will allow us to place stained glass somewhere in the church. We can all pray.
As our interview came to a close, I asked Darwin what he hoped a parishioner would feel or experience as they enter our parish grounds and then enter the worship space at our first Mass next June. He paused and thought for a bit. After much reflection, he said that he hoped many would say that “this is so much like I thought it would be---I feel like it’s home for us.” He went on to say that he hoped it would be familiar, like a church from our past. A church that has all the aspects of a traditional Catholic Church.
I’d like to represent our parish family as I extend a big thank you to Darwin and all the members of the wonderful Worship Space Committee. We know that you’ve spent endless hours researching, praying, planning, and offering recommendations to the Building Steering Committee, who make the final decisions. Our worship space will reflect all your hard work and we as a parish want you to know how much you are all loved and appreciated. With much sincerity, we thank you!
