Liturgical Art & Environment

Tool for Evangelization and Mission

by David Philippart

Your church building is the most expensive tool for mission and evangelization that your parish has. At a pastoral staff, parish council or liturgy committee meeting, look at it with fresh attention. (Don't discuss it abstractly. Take this article with you and go walk around!). This is basic stewardship. It's also an exercise in practical theology. Architects know, from Winston Churchill, that "we shape our buildings then they shape us." Is your church building shaping your parish into the body of Christ, or into something else? How boldly, and correctly, is your building proclaiming the good news of Christ? In this article, we will look at the exterior of the church building. In the second part, we'll move inside.