Inside ML

What vessel best surrounds the fire that is the worship life of a community? One that speaks of permanence. One that reflects the flame without overpowering it. It draws worshipers deeper into the experience while welcoming inquirers into a new experience of faith. It honors individuality while remaining connected to the worship life of the universal church. It echoes the prayer sung and spoken within, caresses the scents of liturgy, and stands as visible witness of the living Body of Christ. 

Creating a structure that meets these rather poetic criteria is a daunting task. In this issue of ML, Bob & Cindy Kessler share some insights on the process of designing stained glass for a contemporary religious space. On a somewhat broader scale, Barton Drake illuminates the method by which the diverse visions of a community may be focused into a worship space design that matches their identity while keeping pace with current liturgical practice. In a unique blending of worship needs, Richard J. Lundgren, Thomas Paul, and Alice Manzi describe a prayer space designed for common use by Islamic, Jewish, and Christian traditions. The driving force behind these designs are liturgical artists, and they have a rich and varied history. Helen St.Paul offers an overview of associations of liturgical artists throughout history and the ways in which the arts have been supported by and through them. Michael DeSanctis, reflecting on the idea of “mass on the moon” (there’s a challenging worship space!), reminds us of the energy and dreams of the early days of liturgical renewal and challenges us to have the courage to reclaim those dreams. 

How welcoming are we if our building has no gathering space or, worse, if there is no one to welcome the stranger? If our buildings don’t support the spoken word and sung prayer, what does that say about our commitment to the communal worship experience? What message of Christian charity do we send when our buildings often fail to meet even the letter of the law regarding access? The list goes on. 

All of this is about surrounding that great flame of faith with care. Ours is the task of feeding that fire and protecting it from the winds of oppression and the waters of misguided leadership. Surrounding the flame without suffocating it is a gentle task requiring insight and sensitivity, patience and humility. 

May the Morning Star which never sets / find this flame still burning: / Christ, that Morning Star, / who came back from the dead, / and shed his peaceful light on all … (Exsultet). ML

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