Church's revival a beacon of hope and renewal

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel architecture critic Whitney Gould's "Spaces" column yesterday is on the restoration of the bell tower at St. Hedwig Church, one of three locations of the merged Three Holy Women Parish on Milwaukee's east side.

People who live in downtown high rises are always telling [pastor] Father Tim Kitzke how lovely St. Hedwig Church looks at night, when its majestic 162-foot steeple is washed with light.

We've been through a phase during which church architecture avoided bell towers and even crosses. St. Al's, for example, only later added its name, the crosses, and the informational sign. From the article, it also appears that the meaning of the word "restoration" is being recovered (though too late for Milwaukee's Cathedral).

And then there is that architecture: that beautiful brick and stone, those radiant stained-glass windows, those slender spires crafted by immigrant artisans.

Kitzke put it well: "There's nothing sadder than looking at old picture books of the city and saying, 'Man, if only those beautiful buildings were still here.' "

Sad in the context of what was built subsequently. Or as my Sunday School tenth graders put it, "Why does our church look like an auditorium?"