The Most Beautiful Church in the Diocese

What? Do you think I'm nuts? ( Don't answer that, Alex. ) There's no possible way to make a judgement like that. There are just too many candidates.
Let me put it this way. Within five miles of where I'm typing, there are at least ten excellent parish churches. Each one a fine example of its style. There might be more. I'm not exactly sure where the boundary would be. Of those ten, at least six are first rate designs, worthy to stand with any of their kind in the United States. Three of those could even be called "world class".
That's just in one section of Toledo. Add the rest of the diocese, and I could easily multiply each of those figures by ten, at the very least. There are simply too many beautiful churches in the Toledo Diocese to choose one, especially since comparing first rate examples of different styles is really like comparing apples and oranges.
The award for the most beautiful parish church in the diocese, goes to the whole diocese for having an embarrassment of riches.

The Worst Church Interior in the Diocese

I won't even identify it. "Noble simplicity" was never intended to mean sterile as an operating room. A drab, gray wall that dwarfs that resurrifix. Furniture that looks like it came from Ikea. Dull carpet that looks like any institutional waiting room. It's a disaster. The parishioners probably fall asleep.
There is absolutely no excuse for a church to be this ugly. Interestingly enough, the parish is considering building a new church. Why bother? They already have a blank slate. The exterior is actually rather interesting, in a box-like sort of way. Just gut the place and invest in some decent fittings. Better yet, put some of the artwork that's sitting in storage to good use. Anything would be an improvement over this.

The Awards

I'll finish handing out awards tomorrow, with the ugliest church interior in the diocese, and the most beautiful.

The Taking out the Garbage Award

....for the ugliest building ever used as a church in the Diocese of Toledo, goes to old St. Patrick's, in Bryan. This c1960 monstrosity took the word "awful" to new heights.
In fairness, it was meant to be a school gymnasium ( And looks it. ) and was a stopgap measure until a new church could be built. The parishioners suffered this little corner of Purgatory for much longer than expected. When the new church was finally built, they made it a gem.

The Wave of the Future Award

....for the best example of the new eclecticism goes to St. Michael's in Findlay. Romanesque form, post-modern style. Excellent work.

The le Corbusier Memorial Award

....for best church exterior, in a contemporary style, goes to All Saints, in Rossford. No one could mistake this for a dentist's office. That entrance arch and the gable, that seems to rise forever, are the best of late 20th century architecture, even if it was built in the 21st century.

The Raising the Dead Award...

..... with a laurel wreath for reversing a wreckovation, goes to All Saints in New Riegel, for restoring the murals when they could easily have been forgiven for giving them up as a lost cause.

See what I mean?

The English Country House Award...

....for the best example of an artwork added to an older church of a completely different style without sticking out like a sore thumb, goes to Immaculate Conception, in the Old South End, for the Pewabic pottery War Memorial. The modernistic style of the Pieta matches the coloration of the rest of the church, and the general high quality of the artwork, so well that it fits right in.

The Rad-Trad Baiting Award...

...for the best modern church interior in the diocese, goes to St. Peter's in Huron. Soaring would be the word. It has the same noble effect as the great baroque domes, put in modern form. It also uses quality materials and subdued colors, to avoid the "mothership" feel of too many of its kind. That chandelier is fantastic. The windows are good. Even looks like the tabernacle is in the right place. I think what appeals to me most is the play of light and shadow, which gives a tone of the sacred that's all too rare in contemporary architecture. Most churches of the 60's and 70's look as old-fashioned as bell-bottoms and lava lamps. This just looks magnificent. GOOD JOB!
One other note. The resurrifix is actually, wonder of wonders, well made. As long as there's a real crucifix in the mix, even I wouldn't have a problem with it.

The Wise Virgins' Award

....for good use of lighting, goes to St. Mary's, in Norwalk. What can I say? I love those blue lights.

The Orange Bong Award...

...with a marijuana leaf cluster for extra effort, goes to St. Paul's, in Norwalk. The cluster is added for having the worst resurrifix I've ever seen. It's not easy to make Our Lord look like he'd fit in at Woodstock, but it's been done here.

The primary thrust of the Orange Bong Award is to recognize the worst example of wreckovation. In that department, St. Paul's wins hands down for turning a nice, though a bit cluttered Victorian church into something that looks like a 60's flower child's wildest fantasy of a place to play their tambourines and get stoned.

The "Knowing when to Stop" Award

The award for taking a Victorian profusion of decoration to just the point where it reaches perfection, and then stops goes to St. Patrick's in the Warehouse District. One more statue might be too much. If you'd had as many dowager aunts as I had, you'd realize just what a great accomplishment that is.

The Energizer Bunny Award

The award for a parish that doesn't get nearly enough attention, is in a declining neighborhood, but manages to quietly and without fanfare get the job done in fine form, goes to SS Peter and Paul in the Old South End.

The "What's This Doing Here?" Award

The award for the most overwhelmingly impressive church to be found in a very small town goes to St. Michael's in Kalida.

First Annual Cat Amongst the Pigeons Awards

Over the next few days, I'll be recognizing the best and the worst of church design in the diocese. All views expressed will be based on my personal opinions along with years of studying such matters. They'll also be based on what I've seen, both in visits and in photographs. I'll freely admit I still have discoveries to make.
The compliments will far outnumber the condemnations.
Of course, there are a lot of awards I COULD have presented for fun. For example, the "Go Home, Dorothy, and take Toto with You Award" for the group I'm most sick of hearing from, and the Joseph Goebbels Memorial Award for hopelessly biased reporting. You can probably figure those out, if you care to.