16 March 2011

Newman Hall/Holy Spirit Parish (Berkeley, CA)

Thank goodness it's Spring Break! I spent the beginning of my vacation in the Bay Area, visiting a friend from high school at UC Berkeley. On Sunday, I figured I'd check out UC Berkeley's Newman Center for Mass.

The Newman community at Berkeley has a huge facility close to campus. Their worship space is like no church I've ever seen, with stark stone walls, as well as a stone altar and podium. There was a large stone cross that appeared to be incorporated into the wall. I thought the stone was a very interesting choice, it reminded me of the biblical verse where Jesus tells Peter to build the church upon a rock.

There was a small student choir giving hymns at the Mass, and instead of hymn books, the lyrics to the hymns were displayed on a sharp-looking projection screen above the choir. I couldn't figure out exactly why they were doing this, but my guess was that not having hymn books was a way to save paper. All in all, a very cool, modern place to worship.

Links:
Cal Newman Center

Pictures:





Catholic Churches I've Visited in California:

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3 comments:

  1. in the philippines, some churches do that as well... the church that my parents got married in has a wall dedicated to the prayers and songs of the mass. it is kinda weird, but then it really gets your attention, so i guess it's not a bad thing?

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  2. I just happened to come across your blog and I think this sounds like an awesome idea! I'm interested to hear you take on the different churches.

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  3. Thanks Jack! I'll have some more posts up soon.

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