From the outside of the church I thought very little of how it differed from any other church, especially since it is so tightly squeezed onto a city block, it is almost hard to even notice. The site was very cramped because it is located in the heart of downtown in a pretty big city. However as soon as we walked in I was immediately taken by surprise. When I think of a Protestant church, I think of a wide open space, with wooden pews, stained class windows, and statues by the alter. The Downtown Presbyterian Church had all of that, just not at all as how I would have imaged it. Every aspect of the church was so engulfed in ancient Egyptian art and culture and thought out so carefully. The stained glass windows at this church were represented by the sandy grounds of Egypt and the papyrus plants, which symbolized their culture. The colors and designs on every corner were consistent with the Egyptian theme. It was very well thought out and executed to get a certain message across.
The walls were so brightly colored and intricately decorated with Egyptian symbols and inspired art. The main colors were deep reds, browns and teal. Even the cross at the front of the church was themed Egyptian in pattern and in color.
The space in it felt massive and open like I’m used to feeling in churches, but the walls and how they were painted made me perceive it differently. The walls were decorated just like the Great Temple at Karnak with the many massive columns decorated with papyrus leaves at the top. In the church however, there was one row of columns and then the rest were just painted on to make it look like there was much more depth in the room then there really was. The space seemed so massive and made me feel so small in comparison. The ceiling imitated light and the sky. It was just you were looking up in a temple and could see the clouds rolling over and the bright sky which was much lighter than the rest of the church.
The materials that I mainly saw used were wood for the pews and concrete for the exterior. The interior was created to look as if it was made of stone and decorated to impersonate what the actual walls of an Egyptian temple. There was a definite rhythm as well throughout the church. The designs created a constant pattern all around the walls. Also the repeated images of the stained glass windows also gave the church some rhythm. A couple of distinctive features I noticed were the use of the symbol of Ra, the Egyptian sun god and the Egyptian crosses.
I didn’t really talk to my group as a whole, but I did talk to members of it here and there. I think everyone generally had a similar reaction and were taken aback by the extensive theme and decoration of Egypt in a modern day Presbyterian Church.
I was not expecting to see a completely Egyptian themed church when first got there! It was strange that there were no visible images of Christ which I thought was strange (especially since I'm Catholic-- my hometown's church is filled top to bottom with Christian iconography). After thinking more about it though, I thought that maybe they were making a statement with how decorated the church was. The Egyptians cared much about their religious affairs and went so far as to spend years constructing elaborate buildings with extremely detailed murals. It might be possible that at the time this church was built, many churches might have been bland and boring. That alongside the fact that Egypt was becoming an increasingly popular topic would have put The Downtown Presbyterian church on the map! Controversy + modern topics = publicity. I really enjoyed viewing the building.
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