Universal Church Almost Ready, Still Ugly
Cleanliness mat be next to Godliness, but apparently good design is not. (At least not any more. In former times, religion was obviously a great sponsor of inspiring architecture.) We first spotted signs of this $12 million project by the Universal Church a couple of years ago. At the time, we said, “Frankly, we can’t…
Cleanliness mat be next to Godliness, but apparently good design is not. (At least not any more. In former times, religion was obviously a great sponsor of inspiring architecture.) We first spotted signs of this $12 million project by the Universal Church a couple of years ago. At the time, we said, “Frankly, we can’t see why the area needs a new church when beautiful old churches like St. Bartholomew are having such a difficult time remaining solvent.” On the upside, though, perhaps the presence of a religious institution will help clean up this corner of Classon and Fulton which has been plagued by a variety of sinners for years.
Development Watch: Universal Church at 1091 Fulton [Brownstoner] GMAP
Another Church on Fulton (As If It Needs One) [Brownstoner] DOB
That’s bringing back memories of some Sundays in the 70’s on which my family would leave the house too late to attend mass at our own church, which was traditional and formal with “bells and smells”. So my parents would grudgingly drive across town to the only other RC church in our small town, a 70’s folksy place with the ultra modern, stylized cross over the altar and guitars and flutes. We hated it! So funny.
Thanks, Benson, although twenty years ago, I went over to the dark side, and became an Episcopalian, to the disappointment of some family members. As a veteran, and guitar playing participant of 70’s Catholic folk masses, which were a great idea at the time, I understand the need for the formal ritual and ceremony, as well as a need for relating to people where they are.
Montrose;
Now I know why we sometimes share the same sensibilities, even though at the same time we are on opposite sides of an issue. I’m RC too, and am big on ritual and ceremony – something I think the Church needs to reinvigorate.
So true, Brenda. Many years ago, I sat next to someone on the B26 bus to Bed Stuy who was a member of the Pentacostal Elim Church, which took over a large, ornate Catholic Church on the Clinton Hill/BS border. She was trying to preach to me, and me, trying to be nice and make conversation, I said I had never been inside, and being me, see above, asked about the interior architecture.
“Oh, it’s nice in there now”, she said. “The first thing we did is pull down all of the idols, and bring the church back to Jesus.” Being raised Catholic, I decided to change the subject for the rest of my ride. Who knows what they did in there. Low church, indeed.
BTW, St. Bart’s, mentioned above, is classic high church Anglican/Episcopalian. Bells and smells. (That’s full blown chanted mass, with processions, inscense, and lots of music.) There’s something to be said for ritual and ceremony in a chaotic world. Not for everyone, I know, but I’m quite fond of it.
Beautifully said, Montrose. DaveinBedStuy, sorry you stumbled into a Unitarian beanie-wearing Bush-bash when what you needed was high-church Episcopalian. (I would say Roman Catholic, but my club isn’t terribly reliable anymore; we can’t even build churches right anymore, we’ve been making them look like bowling alleys for about 40 years now.) And as for why a new church doesn’t simply take over an old one, well–denominations are about culture as much as theology (one feeds the other). The lush physicality of a typical neo-Gothic Roman Catholic church would offend the sensibilities of a low-church (no offense, they really use that ‘high/low’ term) Protestant or Evangelical. You go far enough into Evangelical land, and they think we Papists are the whore of Babylon for our fancy digs. ;}
MMM.. yummy Methadone.
Speaking of that corner, it looks like there was a fire at the building on the South East corner of Classon and Fulton, the one with the grocery store/bodega in the picture, on the upstairs floor and the back side of the building. Was that the methadone clinic, and if so, is it closed and/or planning to reopen?
Religion is such a scam, Clearly if I wanted to fleece and take advantage of those less fortunate I should have became an ordained minister.
I would have said Catholic priest, but I don’t like little boys.
For everyone who didn’t major in comparative religion:
Universal Church: http://www.universalchurch.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Church_of_the_Kingdom_of_God
Unitarian Universalist Association: http://www.uua.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universalism
Universal Life Church: http://www.ulc.net
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Life_Church
Three very different faiths. This is a Universal Church.