From workshops and youth retreats to construction work at Christ Cathedral, the Diocese of Orange will be bustling with events and improvements throughout the summer.
The biggest thing happening this summer will be the $72 million renovation of Christ Cathedral, the Garden Grove sanctuary formerly known as Crystal Cathedral.
Window refurbishments are completed and construction is set to begin this summer.
Plans to improve the cathedral began in 2013 and have gone through several iterations because of the uniqueness and magnitude of the project, said Fr. Christopher Smith, rector and Episcopal vicar of Christ Cathedral.
This past year, officials finalized plans for the cathedral, which included many elements of what was initially conceptualized.
The design features a raised platform called a predella, which will extend out almost to the center of the building. On the predella will be the altar, the focal point of the cathedral, Smith said.
The seating will be radial, with pews in a fanlike configuration facing the altar, while the bishop’s chair, the cathedra, will have a prominent place at the north end of the predella.
The ambo will be elevated and located on the east side of the predella, and there will be a hanging baldachin, a kind of canopy from which a crucifix will hang directly over the altar, Smith said.
There will be an interior stone wall around the perimeter of the worship floor.
The design also features quatrefoils, petal-like structures that will hang from the space frame, with various degrees of aperture to control the sunlight. They will also serve to help in the acoustics of the space, the air-conditioning and the lighting of the cathedral, Smith said.
Other major events in the Diocese of Orange include:
Christ Cathedral will host a Memorial Day Prayer Service on May 29. The prayer service will begin at 11 a.m. in the Arboretum, followed by a noon tribute in the Cathedral Memorial Gardens. The event will include prayer, music, the release of 100 doves, a gun salute and a patriotic carillon recital. Visit christcathedralcalifornia.org for more.
Authors Kathleen Beckman and Pia de Soleni will be part of a panel that will discuss Beckman’s book, “When Women Pray,” on July 20. The event, which is the second installment of the Orange County Catholic Book Club Author Focus Series, will take place from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at the Freed Theater at Christ Cathedral. Admission is $20, or free if a book club member. Visit rcbo.org/events/oc-catholic-book-club-when-women-pray for more.
The Youth & Young Adult Ministry will host a weekend retreat called Breathe from June 23-25 at the Santiago Retreat Center in Silverado. Contact 714-282-3061, or email cord@rcbo.org for more.
Catholic Charities of Orange County will present Camp ReCreation, a volunteer camp to help the developmentally disabled. The children’s volunteer camp will be from July 7-10 at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. The adults’ volunteer camp will be from Aug. 3-6 at Sisters of St. Joseph Motherhouse in Orange. Visit camprecreationccoc.com.
All for God will host its first Catholic conference for teens called Steubenville OC from July 7-9 at UC Irvine. The weekend will feature speakers, music, mass, prayer and fellowship. Visit allforgod.com/steubenville-oc for more.
Go on a Catholic Cruise with diocese bishops. The July 21-24 cruise from Long Beach to Ensenada, Mexico, will feature music by Francis Cabildo and Director of Christ Cathedral Music Ministries Dr. John Romeri, and Mass with Bishop Vann and Bishop Freyer at the Cathedral in Ensenada, Santuario. Day-trip options include a service project at a local orphanage. Call 714-538-0010, or visit occatholic.com/travel.
Full story at Orange County Catholic.
The insanity of this purchase becomes clearer and clearer as the madness of the described “makeover” becomes manifest. All this money to help a Protestant sect, and it will still be largely a Protestant “worship space” (as Zombie Liberals like to describe what was previously called a church) when completed. Have you seen the illustrations of the modernist foolishness; do the “cathedrals” of Los Angeles and Oakland come to mind? Of course, Catholics who believe that the Church did not start until Vatican II will be pleased, but they are largely Protestant-Catholics anyway.
Do not spend a dime in support of this effort. Many truly Traditional orders are struggling to build regular Catholic churches; help them.
The amount of money to fix up this monstrosity is obscene!
Are they signing papers in an airport terminal?
I was not a fan of the purchase of the Crystal Cathedral. But, as I recall, it was Bishop Brown who made the purchase. So, Bishop Vann either has to make the best of the purchase or sell it, possibly at a loss. About the amount, 72 million dollars is high but not an obscene amount for such a project. And I suspect that Bishops Vann and Freyer will ensure that the final product is the best possible outcome for this situation.
We’ll see. Personally, I’m of mixe d minds about the project. I went to the Crystal Cathedral in the 80’s near its peak, just to check it out, as i had friends in the region. Shuller was not the preacher that day, and their idea of a liturgy, or even a service, was ridiculously shallow, in my view. But I thought the place itself was glorious, and I like the plans that have been put forth to transform it into a Catholic space. Will it be worth the money? I don’t know? Will it bring more people to Christ, I don’t know. But I think it IS an effort to give glory to God, and in that I think it will be successful.
YFC,
I also visited the Crystal Cathedral around 1980 and was fairly impressed with it as a Protestant church.
It’s been awhile and my memory is quite vague, but the building has real potential. The question is whether the architects have both the vision and the skill to actually pull it off.