Since coming to St. Francis I have been concerned with, among many other things, tidying up the church, painting, cleaning, etc. Someone suggested to me once that we should not be so concerned with that sort of thing so much "getting out there", meeting people in the community, and sharing Christ and the Catholic faith. I personally do not see the two as being mutually exclusive or at odds with each other, though. I am out in the community almost every day (always in my clerics, and often in my cassock) meeting people and talking about the church, inviting people to come, and so on. The thing that I am concerned with is what they see and experience when they get here. Is the building nice or ugly? Is it smelly and musty, or is it fresh and airy? Is it drab, dull, and colorless? Or is it warm, distinguished-looking, and colorful? All of that makes an impact on people. Beauty and dignity attracts people. Blandness and ugliness repels people. Now obviously there are other things in a Church community that attract people: friendliness, good music, good teaching, etc. But the physical space and grounds itself are important too. Beyond the pragmatic, there is however, the spiritual. The parish church is God's house. It should not be smelly, plain, and rundown. Would we tolerate having paint from the wall smeared on the baseboard and windows in our own house? Probably not. Then why tolerate it in God's house? The way we treat our churches is a direct reflection on how we think of God, and the importance that He has in our life. The parish church, the house of God, should be the most beautiful, well-kept, and dignified building around. And a beautiful and holy of the parish church not only honors God, but also attracts people to Him.
This is the "Christ the King" statue from St. Mary the Virgin in Manhattan. A nice photo taken by my wife.
Here is a quick shot of St. Mary the Virgin in NYC. My wife got some killer shots on her digital SLR camera which I need to download, but this one gives you a sense of the massive space. The parish is located right in Times Square. It is full of gorgeous wood carvings by the German carver Johannes Kirchmayer (1860-1930). The rood screen which he carved is the most beautiful I have seen to date. The church itself is built in 13th century French Gothic and is modeled on Saint-Chapelle in Paris. The nave sores to a height of 80 feet. While there the organist was practicing, playing an amazing piece by Durufle, which managed to drown out all of the traffic and street noise from Times Square. I'll post more pictures of this cool church later. Unfortunately the building seems to be the only traditional Anglo-Catholic thing left about this place. They are a "Rite 2" parish, and when I attended Sunday mass at this church a few years ago they had a woman celebrating the Eucharist. Using incense and bells does not make one a Catholic.