“Duncan G. Stroik, an architect, educator, and author, is a leader in restoring traditional architecture to the service of the Church. This book presents the shortcomings of modernism’s service and, more importantly, it explains the importance of reconnecting liturgy and theology to architecture. The high quality and broad reach of the material here, both verbal and visual, makes it an invaluable complement to the practice of architecture as a whole. It will be especially important in enriching any dialogue about the choices available when building or renovating a Catholic church today.”

—Carroll William Westfall,
Frank Montana Professor
University of Notre Dame School of Architecture

“For decades, Duncan Stroik has led the renewal movement in Catholic church architecture and its reengagement with tradition. Once a lone voice crying in the wilderness, he has since become a leading educator and practitioner, a man whose name is almost a household word and has proven that large, beautiful, traditional Catholic architecture is indeed possible today. For this reason, this book is almost as much a collection of primary source readings about Stroik's role in the New Classical movement as it is a primer on church architecture itself."

—Denis R. McNamara,
Author, Catholic Church Architecture and the Spirit of the Liturgy
Assistant Director, Liturgical Institute

“No other architect in the U.S. in the past dozen years has done more to champion traditional architecture in Roman Catholic design than Duncan G. Stroik. In this book, Stroik presents his views of how Catholicism can build new churches true to its history and, the author stresses, in alignment with the Roman Catholic faith. Drawn from the wealth of Stroik’s prolific writing in the pages of Sacred Architecture journal, and illustrated with historical examples as well as his own church designs, Stroik provides much for us to ponder.”

—Michael J. Crosbie,
Editor, Faith & Form: The Interfaith Journal on Religion, Art and Architecture

“The qualities that led us to select Mr. Stroik as the design architect of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Chapel are on full display in Church Building as Sacred Place: Beauty, Transcendence and the Eternal. In the essays and photographs collected here, readers will come to appreciate the extent of Duncan’s knowledge of sacred architecture and its history, his understanding of the Church’s iconography and traditions, and his deep reverence for the liturgy. He has shown decisively that in this post-modern age it is still possible to erect something truly beautiful for God.”

—Michael F. McLean, PhD,
President
Thomas Aquinas College

“Because the Church is ‘in the world but not of it,’ church buildings, while obviously firmly planted in the world, are not captured by any single architectural style. What is necessary, however, is that principles basic to the faith itself be reflected in the architecture of churches ... Duncan G. Stroik’s scholarly work and practical plans are a model for relating buildings and the faith that is their reason for being built. These essays tell us why and how he does it.”

—Francis Cardinal George, OMI,
Archbishop of Chicago

“Whether you are a priest wishing better to equip a space for the Holy Sacrifice or a layman hoping to better understand the spatial experience of Sunday Mass, The Church Building as a Sacred Place is recommended for clergy and layman alike. The book excels in being both accessible while being specific. . . . Since churches are teachings in stone, all would benefit from understanding more clearly the architecture in which we worship, a space which—following Winston Churchill—after it has been formed, then forms us. It is imperative that we ‘reestablish the meaning of the church as a sacred place and reassert the sacrificial aspects of the Mass’ (135), for beauty, as St. Augustine wrote, is ever ancient, and ever new.”

—Amanda C.R. Clark, PhD,
Co-Author, Understanding Architecture (forthcoming)

“The book itself is a high quality, beautiful and profusely illustrated volume, and the seventy-five dollar price tag reflects the enormous number of color illustrations that are integrated throughout the work. These illustrations, that include high quality photographs as well as numerous watercolor illustrations and architectural drawings, are not simply pleasant interludes amid meaty material, but the concrete illustrations of points that Stroik makes throughout. In truth, the reader gets the impression that as an architect and professor of the arts, Mr. Stroik could not teach without an image to comment upon or an illustration for his ideas. This is not a coffee table book. . . . If, however, one is interested in the current state of sacred architecture and the issues inherent in this battle, there is no better book on the market.”

—Phillip Nielsen,
PhD Candidate,
Texas A&M University

This supplement will be available soon.