Church Background: Picking Materials

Members of the design committee visited many churches and made note of what we liked and what ideas we would not use in our new church. We contracted with Ware and Associates of Rockford to be our architects, and Father John Buscemi to be our liturgical consultant. In our meetings, we decided that the church should look like the homes we lived in. We wanted to use wood, brick, and glass to make the church space beautiful and comfortable. We loved stained glass, but our budget didn’t allow for it. We especially wanted good “sight lines”. So, our church design puts the front pews only 20 feet from the priest during Mass. And the last pews are only 90 feet away from the presider. At this distance, the worshipper can see the facial expressions of the priest and vice versa. This led to our almost semi-circle design of our seating.