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Tuesday, July 28, 2015

My Post About Church Buildings

Something I've wanted to do for years is to get pictures of different churches and share them here with everyone. I wanted to do it because I admire the architecture of many of them. I have always thought many churches were among the most beautiful buildings. Not all churches were created equal though.

I want to tell you that I dislike sharing any religious or political views here, but since my subject is churches I'll share just a tiny bit. I wasn't raised as a religious person, but I do like the idea of religion. I believe everyone needs something to believe in to give them some peace of mind. Religion of whatever kind you choose can be an excellent and organized way to do that for a person.

I don't believe religion is the only way. There is philosophy. Having a philosophy of life can give you a similar feeling to religion. Sometimes all it takes is a strong passion for a thing you do. A love of nature can help some. For some people it can even be a passion for their job or whatever other work or hobby they might have.

Any of those things and many others can work for a person. The only thing to avoid is to try not to become obsessed with something in an unhealthy way. I have the thing that gives me peace of mind, but I won't discuss it here because everyone should search for their own thing. And that's all I'm going to say about it. I hope that was enough but not too much.

Now I'll talk a little about the churches in my pictures. The churches here are all located in South Dakota. I'll do future posts from other places, but that's where I decided to start6. Hopefully the pictures get better as I go on. I'm honestly not impressed with any of these pictures.

The first picture shows a big church located way out in the country. I don't think there are any towns really very close to it. It's much more impressive than my bad picture shows. I obviously need to clean my camera lens. I really liked this church building.

The second picture doesn't quite show you the church building itself. It is there in the background though. I kind of liked that little bell tower. The church itself is a modern building, the kind that doesn't much impress me. I found this one in one of the bigger small towns around here.

The picture above shows the smallest church I found. It's located in a little strip mall on the side of the road. It shows that a church can be made from just about anything. I guess this one demonstrates that it doesn't necessarily matter about the building.

I found this one above in one of the smallest towns I visited. It's hard to see the whole building because of the trees in the front, but this is the kind of building I expected to see when I headed out. The light brown figure out front is a wood carving of an angel. I guess I should have gotten a closeup of it.

The churches in my last three pictures are located in a college town to the west of me. Actually I guess they're all to the west since I'm in Iowa and these churches are in South Dakota. This one above is what I think of when I think about a church in a small city or maybe large town.

Let me pause right here for a second. I just realized I'm being intentionally vague about the locations of these churches. I have no idea why I'm doing that. These last three churches are in Vermillion, South Dakota. That smallest one and the one above it are in Elk Point, South Dakota. Some of the others are in places I'm not sure of the town.

 These last two pictures are of the same church. I couldn't find a place where I could get a good picture of it. This church was big, almost as big as some of the churches I used to see in Detroit. I wish I could let you see this one better. I like it because it looks kind of like a castle.

I'm going to have future posts with church pictures. Hopefully the pictures will get better as I go. There are some really nice looking churches in Sioux City. There's also a religious site there that has to be seen to be believed. It's one of the most impressive places I've ever seen. I hope I'm able to visit that place soon.

I'm still going to keep visiting my little nature park. These other things will be somewhere in between posts about that. I had kind of given up on my church pictures after I moved, but then I got to thinking that getting my pictures around here was even better than taking pictures of Detroit churches. More variety.

So that's my long post for this time. I think my next one will be a short one. I know not everyone appreciates these long posts sometimes, but sometimes they have to come out. And I'll just leave it at that. I'll talk to you later.

13 comments:

  1. Notice how each one is different.
    I always loved the smaller ones. A good place to sit in solitude and reflect on all the blessings that we have received.

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  2. Some lovely photos Ratty....I was trying to think if we had such a great variety of different looking churches in the UK and I think maybe we do but certainly not in my area so it was really nice to see so many different variations.

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  3. The outward and inward appearance of a church frequently reflects its theology.

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  4. I'm like you, i am drawn to the architecture of churches too, the intricate details on how they are made fascinates me.

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  5. ya see some distinct looks in churches. The older the better :)

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  6. My human loves church architecture too, and especially loves visiting the missions in California... even though she is not at all religious.

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  7. When it comes to churches one thing for sure is that it doesn't really matter to the congregation what the building looks like. Some don't even look much like a church. My favorites are the huge ones with the tall steeples.
    These are nice, look forward to seeing more

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  8. passing by here and read your articles, nice writing!

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  9. YoU did good! Exactly you told us enough and not too much, I do appreciate that. Church architecture surely can vary. The bigger grander ones are certainly prettier to the eye than the strip mall ones,and I guess are supposed to elevate your thoughts. I read once that steeples were made to point your eyes toward heaven, but most adults don't believe heaven is a place in the sky! Maybe they used to many years ago.

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  10. Churches come in all shapes and sizes. It's interesting to see them, but what really matters are the people who make up the church.

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  11. Ratty, I really enjoyed this post. I am not gung ho in terms of formal religion though I do consider myself a spiritual person. I certainly don't believe one must gather in any structure to worship. I feel the presence of a Supreme Being often in my world travels, in the beauty that I see, in the kindness that, even the poorest of people, show toward me. I've been so blessed to see places of worship from the towering Gothic cathedrals of Europe ( I love these ) to the ancient Hindu temples in India, with their intricate carvings that have survived the centuries. I've enjoyed Gospel singing in tiny rural Pentecostal churches and have visited St. Paul's and Westminster Abbey in London. I agree, it isn't the size or magnificence of one's place of worship...I am sure the Creator cherishes a whispered child's prayer at bedtime as much as the Pope's from Vatican City.

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  12. I also don't like discussing about political view or religious belief as everyone is so different.

    I love all types of old church buildings in Detroit, and around Detroit too. They are just magnificent!

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  13. I really enjoyed looking at your photos. Thanks for posting! I don’t affiliate with any religion, but I also love the different architectures of churches. One of my favorites is St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City. If you have not been there, I highly recommend that you visit it. You can spend hours in there admiring the details.

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