Topic: Can you tell me some stuff about building new Churches?

Date originally posted: March 9, 2002

Source of this posting: Moderator response to emailed question

Moderator who originally posted this source: J. Ruffo

Question: I actually have several  1.) what was the answer to the Mary and Joseph not consummating the marriage question!! I have my opinions and I would like to hear the churches reply.  2.) several new churches are being built with out kneelers! I find this difficult to accept! We should be kneeling at times especially the consecration!  What is the churches 'GIRM' teaching thanks. Tim

Answer: 

Dear Tim, 

Thanks for coming back to CatholicQandA!  The answer to that “Mary and Joseph not consummating the marriage question” is posted in this web site’s “Virtual Library” under the heading “Mary”.  I was interested in that one myself! 

Please also check out my response to Kira on March 7th regarding kneeling and the rubric contained in the GIRM.  I was once the pastor in a brand new church that the people there and their former pastor had just built, brand new, really a beautiful church!  But… no kneelers.  I saw that some people just knelt down on the floor in front of them.  Thankfully, the floor was carpeted! 

If you’re ever going to build a new church, Tim, try to have a small committee helping you.  Because the larger the committee, the more differing opinions you have as to how the church should be built and what it should contain.  Talk about stress!  Some people want stained glass windows; others want clear glass (it’s cheaper).  Some people want a pipe organ; others want an electronic keyboard (it’s cheaper).  Some people want the carpet green, others want it red, or gray.  Some want padded pews, others want hard wood (you won’t doze off so quickly during the sermon).  Some want kneelers; others argue kneelers are an unnecessary expense.  “Kneel on the floor.”  The list of possible arguments here is endless.  Hopefully, folks on such committees don’t lose sight of the reason they’re building a church in the first place because they’re so hung up on its external trappings. 

Father John