Pillars & Foundations

National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette, Attleboro, Massachusetts Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe.  Reflecting on my 2018 Journey Prior to discussing Our Lady of La Salette further, please humor me as I reflect. This blog has documented a year long journey that has taken me to over 50 different churches, shrines, temples and faith centers. Most of these I was privileged to attend a service and to mingle with community members. It has be a terrific experience exploring faith, religion, community, charity, and I am better off as a consequence. It is fitting that I write about the shrine of La Salette in Attleboro as my experience touring the lights in 2017 with my wife, drinking hot chocolate, warming ourselves by a fire, watching a candle light procession of Silent Night at a manger, and seeing families experi...

First Baptist Church, Stoneham, MA Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe. The hope is to provide a window into these organizations allowing those who might not other wise venture in to appreciate these thoughtful, often intimate groups in our midst. Faith centers embody a drive to make a difference which they deliver upon, regardless if it is with one person looking for hope & community, or a recipient of their expansive charitable work. Building & History First Baptist Church in Stoneham has a unique appearance to it that has an exterior of brick and red shingles within its gables and on its bell tower. The church was built in 1892 and it is on the National Register of Historic places. The Wikipedia page describes the building as an example of Queen Anne architecture. The Wikipedia page for Queen Anne architectu...

Incarnation Parish, Melrose & Saugus, Melrose, MA Pillars & Foundations documents an exploration of communities, as well as faith through religious institutions. My intent is to share experiences, and spread the positivity that I observe. The hope is to provide a window into these organizations allowing those who might not other wise venture in to appreciate these thoughtful, often intimate groups in our midst. Faith centers embody a drive to make a difference which they deliver upon, regardless if it is with one person looking for hope & community, or a recipient of their expansive charitable work. Building & History The parish was started in 1958 and an interesting write up on the parish website demonstrates just how much this region of Melrose has changed over the past 60 years. It notes that the land was once a dairy farm located near the Saugus border, and that parishioners originally met in Mount Hood Lodge, "under a stuffed moose head," a...

Churches of Bratislava, Slovakia This past spring I had the pleasure of going on a central European vacation with my wife, and amongst my fondest memories was the time we spent stopping in Bratislava on a trip bookended by several days Budapest and Vienna.  Bratislava is not to be overlooked. This small European capital city of Slovakia is unique not just for the stark juxtaposition of Medieval architecture and ultra-soviet era modernism that slashed through the city without regard, but for the warmth of its people. Be it taking a tour of the modern apartments and civic buildings in a Soviet era Skoda (car), or meandering through the old town and hiking to the castle, you can't help but fall for the allure.  But I digress, this blog is about Church Crawling and so I should share that major aspect of the trip. Sadly I did not get photos of the famed Blue Church (St. Elizabeth's) as it had very limited hours and we chose to prioritize the previously mentioned tou...