Religion: Ugly Churches

Joseph F. Berry of Philadelphia is presiding Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Last week, the Methodist Advocate published an article signed by him wherein he proposed the appointment of boards of censors to pass on church architecture. Wrote he:

“The new buildings as a whole are worse than the older ones. The Mid-dle West, the Far West and the South are dotted with churches that are simply atrocious that have gone up in recent years. I have been a careful observer of church architecture for a good many years. During that time, I have dedicated more than 300 Methodist churches, besides several of other denominations, and my observations do not rest upon a mere theoretical basis.

“Everything has been sacrificed to obtain the maximum of seating ca-pacity at the minimum of cost. The architectural misfits are by no means confined to the West and South. We have them in the East.”