From the Archives: "Arresting the Decline of Quality"

Each month, our blog features articles from the archives of Liturgy. Our goal is to share the wisdom from decades past so that we might celebrate the work and insights of these excellent ministers and scholars.

Richard S. Vosko

In 1981, Liturgy published an article by Richard S. Vosko, entitled “Arresting the Decline of Quality.” Renowned architect of church design and sanctuary renovation, Richard Vosko, writes about the elements of worship ritual that actually feed the faith of the people. Noting that American society is enamored of what is quick and easy –– and what caters to our narcissism –– he explains that faith is nurtured by the assembly's ability to synthesize sensory impressions. What we smell, taste, see, touch, hear all work together to transport our imaginations toward what cannot be simply conveyed in one medium.

He uses the phenomenon of synaesthesia to describe how integrating sense experiences work together. Synaesthesia is the experience a person has when something heard causes that person to see colors. Taken together, a wealth of sensual information, ritually expressed, becomes the basis of worship that fills the heart and mind. Vosko delineates examples of what misses the point and what fulfills the need. Without attention to quality, he maintains, worship becomes something that is not worship.

Selected Quotes from

“Arreting the Decline of Quality”

~ ~ ~

“In many aspects, American worship also leaves many people depressed and wanting. The custom of going to church is supposed to make a person feel good. Many anticipate that a successful worship service wil1 'turn them on,' will enspirit, uplift, fulfill, and gratify them, even render them holy. This attitude is symptomatic of the basic American drive to excel and overachieve. To expect such from a worship ritual is to make it a therapeutic exercise. But worship is not therapy.”

~ ~ ~

“If there is not total integration between the group and what it believes and how it lives, if there is no assimilation of the symbolic meanings of the ritual, if there is no connection between worship and the work of the gospel mission, the ritual is a sham. It is like the evangelists who program worship for those who prefer to watch religion on television. There can be no real integration between the viewer and the ones who are being televised. The relationship is one of illusion and therefore is not real.”

~ ~ ~

“Worship rites that disengage one sense from another rather than integrate or synthesize all of the senses do not enable the assembly members to worship in a synaesthetic manner. Worship services that depend solely upon sight and hearing are inadequate expressions.”

~ ~ ~

“Bread that is real and baked by human hands smells good, tastes like food, looks nourishing and feels like bread. It also bears the hours of human labor that went into the baking of the bread. It also points to the deeper truth of breaking bread together: a sign of unity and coresponsibility. This is what is meant by full participation in the worship rituals.”

~ ~ ~

Richard S. Vosko, PhD, Hon. AIA, a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Albany, has been a sacred space planner since 1970. His award-winning work is continuously acknowledged for liturgical and design excellence. The title of his book is God's House Is Our House: Re-imagining the Environment for Worship (Collegeville: Liturgical Press, 2006). See www.rvosko.com.

If you would like access to this article, please follow this link:

Richard S. Vosko, "Arresting the Decline of Quality," Liturgy 1, no. 4 (1981): 51–59, https://doi.org/10.1080/04580638109408574.