Alumnus Sees “Encouraging Sign” in Sacred Architecture

Architect and planner Erik Bootsma (’01) has written a hopeful story for the Adoremus Bulletin about a positive shift in sacred architecture, as evidenced by a new church in Leesburg, Va.:

St. John’s is far from the first traditional church built recently in the United States, but it is one that gets the important things right. St. John the Apostle is an encouraging sign that the painfully learned lessons of the past half-century of sacred architecture are starting to be understood by the clergy and the Church as a whole. Laity and clergy alike have learned that sacrificing tradition for fads and the latest styles leads to irrelevance in the next generation, and that art and liturgy that is “up to date” is soon out of date. It is becoming a common understanding now that traditional architectural forms are valued for their usefulness liturgically and spiritually to foster deep connections to the roots of our faith.

Read the full story for more about St. John’s, as well as Mr. Bootsma’s thoughts about the state of liturgical architecture.

The owner of Bootsma Design Services, Mr. Bootsma received his master’s degree in architecture from the University of Notre Dame and is a board member of the National Civic Art Society and of the Mid-Atlantic/Washington Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. He also blogs about ecclesiastical architecture and the philosophy of beauty at The Radiance of Form.