St. Joseph Church, Maplewood NJ

Since the Southern Baron and I both enjoy being church tourists, we've had fun scoping out weekday masses at some of the parishes nearby. These pictures of St. Joseph parish in Maplewood are from earlier this winter, back when the sight of snow on the ground was actually a novel idea. Please forgive the iPhone blurriness - I didn't think to grab a "real" camera on our way out for diner breakfast food. (New Jersey diners are practically a religious tradition in themselves, but that's another story for another day ;)

St. Joseph was founded in 1914, so they're celebrating their 100th anniversary this year! The parish complex includes a 1930 brick school building, which is currently up for rent. The current church building dates to 1970, and its design is a good example of the way churches built just after Vatican II were a hybrid of tradition and modern style.

The exterior features simple modernist geometry but still looks "churchy" and pays homage to the patron saint. Brick and concrete are more affordable materials often used by suburban parishes trying to keep up with population growth. The chunky stained glass is rather abstract, but will get more literal inside.

The interior is also heavy on unadorned building materials. Heavy ceiling beams are often a prominent feature in churches of the 70s and 80s, lending gravitas with modernist simplicity. Still, the basic layout is not too different from a gothic cathedral; there are pews facing inward from the side "transepts," and a reredos behind the altar features the crucifixion. The tabernacle is still in the center of the sanctuary, suggesting that separate Eucharistic chapels hadn't caught on yet when this church was built. My overall impression of the space was uncluttered reverence.

The really unique thing about St. Joseph was its stained glass windows. They told stories from saints and scriptures with a contemporary flair. I really loved these scenes from the life of St. Joseph:

Betrothal of Mary and Joseph, then the angel visiting Joseph in a dream. 

One of the transepts featured St. Paul, St. Therese, and maybe Pope St. Pius X? Facing them were Moses, King David, and Abraham, uniting the Old Testament with the New.

Our favorite though, was this window about the papacy. We're pretty sure that's Pope Paul VI (the current pope in 1970) next to St. Peter. Note the papal tiara above his head, another tradition that still lingered. These windows show a parish aware of its place in the wider Church and in salvation history.