In this spirit, I'd like to look at the effort of another local church to build its house of worship.
It is 60,000 square feet - the same size as our building in St. Louis.
Planning for the building was begun in 1870.
The ground breaking ceremony was conducted nearly 40 years later, in 1907.
The building was consecrated in 1914, but not fully completed until the mid-1980s.
It required $3,000,000 to build in 1914, which is $63,000,000 today.
The mosiacs inside, which cover 87,000 square feet of wall space, were designed to remind visitors that, "God reaches into our earthly lives."
I have been in the Cathedral Basilica. It is an amazing place to visit. The church has accomplished its goal. The building itself speaks of the spiritual nature of man and his relationship to God.
Although there required over 100 years to plan, build and complete it, I am quite certain that none of its parishioners - of the past nor of the present - regret their participation in creating this beautiful facility. When viewed against the span of time to complete the Basilica, our own efforts to complete our own ideal building in St. Louis are put into their proper perspective. The months or years that we spend now are nothing compared to the decades of the future that we are actively creating.
Are we there yet? No.
Will we get there? Assuredly.
When? Exactly.
