Omni Architects, Michael Jacobs Principal and Designer

The original church was built in the 1940’s as a temporary sanctuary / gym with plans to build a new sanctuary soon afterwards, but the parish had become so accustomed to it that these plans continued to be shelved over the years. With the growth of the parish from young families moving into the neighborhood there was a groundswell of interest in building the new sanctuary. Omni Architects led by Michael Jacobs was selected by the building committee as the architect to develop designs with a preference for a modern building. Mike Jacobs, with whom von Roenn had worked with on several previous projects, developed a design that fulfilled this preference for a contemporary church, which the younger parishioners fully supported, though this support was not shared by all of the older members who had hoped for a more traditional design.

In early meetings with the building committee to plan for the new glass art, it became apparent that this schism within the parish between the young and the old parishioners should be addressed with the design of the glass so that both groups would feel satisfied. The final solution was a the development of a design for the altar glass wall to feature a traditional rose window element in jewel tones of red and blue in the center, as primary focal element. However, to give the rose window a more contemporary feel, overlapping etched glass panels in the same pattern as the red/blue rose window element which was located behind the etched glass so the brilliant colors would be cast onto the etched areas from the skylight above and behind the glass wall. This overlapping of the etched panels in front to the illuminated colored glass forms created an intriguing visual appearance as the viewing perspective of the parishioners approaching the altar for Communion continually changed, thus creating a dynamic visual effect of flickering flames. To the younger members this symbolized their passion for their spiritual beliefs, while the older members were elated to have perhaps one of the most recognizable elements in catholic buildings, a rose window In the center ands the primary focal element of the sanctuary.

This rose window element at the altar became the reference for the windows located in the shrines along one side of the sanctuary in their coloration though with more open areas to provide clear light into the spaces serving as an field behind the statuary of the saints.

Flanking the rose window form at the altar is a textured glass within which is the Tabernacle which was designed with a surround of stacked glass, creating the appearance of the tabernacle framed with light. A stylized glass flame form was designed to establish its location within this glass wall.