“If you want to compare with our Protestant brethren, probably Catholic churches are, on average, more expensive,” said architect Duncan Stroik, a member of the faculty at University of Notre Dame and a leading expert on Catholic architecture. “They should be, since we believe they are sacramental architecture and houses of God. Buildings are catechism in bricks, mortar and glass.” - Why Church Construction Costs More For Catholics Than Protestants
We're adding 60,000 square feet to our church-house and the precast walls started arriving today, semi after semi after semi after semi. The semis backed up inside the shell of the building and then these wall pieces were lifted off the semi and set in place by a crane, after which they were anchored by the work_ _ _.1
Some pastors want monuments that will pander to the egos of their rich and proud congregations. Some want precast concrete at less than $50 per square foot completed. This was the cost of our first phase.
Compare this with the average cost of $167 per square foot for church buildings back in 2013. We're not sure yet what our figures will be when this second phase is completed, but we expect it won't be much more than...
the first phase.
Our congregation has the second kind of pastors because our church is the second kind of congregation. God has blessed us with no money and hundreds of children, so we can't afford to sell indulgences in order to pay Michelangelo for painting our church-house ceiling. We have to be content with walls, heating and cooling, and bathrooms, and this is God's kindness to us.
When we look at the cathedrals of Europe, we remember the mercantile sacramental system of the Roman Catholics of the medieval age that funded them. Then we remember to be thankful for the plain worship and church-houses of the Reformed Protestant world from the day of Calvin on—the worship and church-houses we love and honor yet today.
Tim serves Clearnote Church, Bloomington, Indiana. He and Mary Lee have five children and big lots of grandchildren.
Want to get in touch? Send Tim an email!
