A Lament for the Loss of St. Anne's

 I don't that think I've ever used the phrase "audible gasp" in a blog entry before but I expelled one early Sunday morning on news that the early twentieth century St. Anne's Anglican church in Toronto had been destroyed by fire. The destruction of a place of worship is usually cause for sadness but St. Anne's was a designated National Historic Site because of its artwork,as well as its architecture. The ceiling was painted by three members of the Group of Seven group and several other celebrated Canadian artists contributed paintings and sculpture works during the 1920s. 

Just before the turn of the millenium a major project took place at St. Anne's after various sources ponied up more than a million dollars to fix the leaky roof and restore the damaged murals. I remember thinking I wanted to visit the church to see this uniquely Canadian decoration of a sanctuary but never got there. 

Should Christian places of worship be beautiful, knowing that this can be costly?  I served several congregations whose sanctuaries were architecturally lovely and I never took that for granted. One of them, St. Andrew's in Sudbury, was relatively modern and striking both in architecture and artwork. While the Methodist heritage of the United Church frowned on extravagant adornment I feel that art, whether musical or visual, is a reflection of the glory of God. In a day of neo-Costco design for many modern worship spaces I hold fast to the "Architecture of Immanence"to borrow the title of a book by Mark Torgerson. Most of the "big box" churches that are built at the edges of cities and towns won't be remembered in a generation or two. 

Did Jesus have any interest in art and architecture? It would seem that he didn't, yet at as a boy and into adulthood he, his family, and later his disciples journeyed to the temple in Jerusalem, one of the architectural wonders of the ancient world.

We can offer prayers of lament and comfort for the small congregation of St. Anne's as they come to grips with their terrible loss. May the Creator of beauty, and the immanent Christ, and the imaginative Spirit give them solace and hope. 

Here is a excellent video explaining how the murals of St. Anne's came into being offered by one of the guides who gave tours of the sanctuary. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4onMbUNvQ7A