Places of Worship: Frank Kacmarcik's Influence in Minnesota

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​​Author:
​Mary Dahlman Smith is an architectural designer, researcher, and writer living in Chicago. October, 2025. WC: 2359

Minnesota was a crucial place for the intersection of the Liturgical Movement and the Modernist Movement. Architecture gives physical form to intangible ideas and as such, Liturgical Modernism is the way that the ideas of the Liturgical Movement are expressed physically. Interpolating theology into design requires expertise in both fields: Minnesota-born Frank Kacmarcik, the artist, designer, and liturgical consultant, was prolific in his work and influence across the US.
 
For the occasion of the 2025 Docomomo US national theme, Places of Worship, this study explores the work of Frank Kacmarcik and examines the parallels between the Liturgical and Modernist Movements. The goal of this study is to highlight Modernist Places of Worship in Minnesota and link the histories of the Modernist Movement and the Liturgical Movement. Central to this study is Frank Kacmarcik, himself a claustral oblate at St John’s Abbey. Not all of the work that Kacmarcik completed as a liturgical consultant was for Catholic congregations, but due to the faith tradition of the central figure in this study, Frank Kacmarcik, discussion will focus on Catholic places of worship and history.
  
The Liturgical Movement in the Catholic Church was, at first, a loose collection of ideas concerned with modernizing religious practices. The Movement was incubated at nodes like Maria Laach Abbey in Glees, Germany, and St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN. The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican (commonly known as Vatican II) formalized many aspects of the Movement, resulting in an updated worship practice. New rituals for worship required new architectural strategies and appropriate sacred art. The Modernist Movement was, at first, a loose collection of ideas concerned with modernizing architectural design. Important nodes like the Bauhaus school and events like the 1932 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art helped to spread Modernist architecture across the globe. Parallels between the Liturgical Movement and the Modernist Movement include their emanation from central academic nodes in Europe and their broad application, magnified by forces both practical and ideological. These movements share a stated interest in integrity and an opposition to hierarchy, whether in liturgical practices or architectural design, and both movements provoked backlash for the iconoclastic thrust of their practitioners. Kacmarcik’s career demonstrates how changes in the Catholic Church, in architectural style, and in social history precipitated the intersection of the Modernist Movement and the Liturgical Movement in Minnesota.

Minnesota is significant for the Liturgical Movement due in part to patterns of migration. In the 19th century, people from Sweden, Ireland, Italy, and Germany settled in Minnesota. A group of Benedictine monks from Germany established a monastery near St. Cloud in the 1860s and supported further waves of German immigrants to the area. This density of Europeans would be an important base for liturgical reform in Catholicism, as Germans in particular were involved in the burgeoning liturgical tradition of congregational participation. This was counter to the official tradition of conducting the Tridentine Mass. In this format, members of the congregation spent the majority of Mass engaged in personal forms of prayer, until it was time for them to receive Holy Communion. The celebrant performed the Eucharist sacrament in Latin, often speaking quietly, quickly, and facing the altar. Architecturally, the Tridentine Mass is associated with ad orientem, wherein the high altar is at the east end of the church, towards the rising sun representing the coming of Christ. [1] In some churches, the altar was pressed against the back wall of the chancel. The clergy, in the chancel, was separated from the congregation, in the nave, by a rail. The altar rail demonstrates the hierarchical isolation inherent in this Mass tradition. This way of celebrating the Mass was very individual, deeply rooted in tradition, and increasingly inopportune for contemporary congregations.

Figure 1. 
Portrait of Frank Kacmarcik. Photograph. Frank Kacmarcik Collection. Hill Museum & Manuscript Library.
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Figure 2. 
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. 1968-1969. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/28938
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As the industrial revolution re-organized societies across the globe, another revolution of modernity was simmering in the Catholic Church. For the Liturgical Movement, attempting to meet the concerns of a rapidly industrializing and increasingly alienated public meant increasing participation of the lay congregation in the liturgy. Liturgy refers to the form that public religious worship takes. A developing theological concern for the Liturgical Movement was the question of whether the Church is a House of God or a House of God’s People. Monasteries, particularly those of the Benedictine order, took on these theological questions with verve in the late 19th century. The Benedictines follow a decentralized structure, as each monastery is autonomous and the order has no central authority other than those recognized by the Catholic Church. The Order is dedicated to prayer and work. The rhizomatic structure and introverted dedication were the perfect breeding ground for the theologically nuanced and experimental ideas of the Liturgical Movement to flourish.
 
The Abbey church of Maria Laach in Glees, Germany was a central node in this early phase of the Liturgical Movement. The Benedictine monks there worked to promote the idea that the liturgy was to be performed by the entire church, not just the clergy. The Missa recitata, or dialogue mass, was celebrated at Maria Laach beginning in 1921. During this ritual, the congregation participated in reciting prayers and in the offertory procession, bringing bread up to the altar. This experimentation was controversial, as fears spread that Maria Laach was advocating for a lay priesthood that would deteriorate respect for the clergy. [2] Despite these fears, the experiments at Maria Laach were successful in spreading the ideas of increased participation by believers. Dom Odo Casel and others at the Institute of Liturgical and Monastic Studies at Mariah Laach developed their ideas through discussion, practice, and publication. Casel published his concept of Mysteriengegenwart (mystery in the present), in which Christ is made manifest again historically and mystically in the liturgy. Central to this concept is the communication and understanding of the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ. For believers to understand these mysteries, a liturgy in vernacular language was crucial. Also among the concepts propagated by the Abbey was the controversial celebration of the Mass versus populum, with the priest facing the assembly. Maria Laach welcomed curious visitors and used publications to spread their ideas. The liturgical experimentation at Maria Laach was concerned with updating the liturgy for contemporary times; the architecture was not as easy to update.
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Figure 3. 
Maria Laach Abbey Church was constructed between 1093 and 1216. The German Romanesque style building has mass masonry walls and semicircular arch motif typical of the style. 
Exterior Maria Laach Abbey Church. Photograph. https://maria-laach.de/en/the-abbey-church

Figure 4. 
The Basilican plan of Maria Laach Abbey Church and ornamentation place emphasis on the clergy, which is separated from the congregation by several steps, a choir with seating parallel to the central aisle, and an altar rail.
Interior Maria Laach. Photograph. Sagenhafte Vulkanregion Laacher See. https://www.vulkanregion-laacher-see.de/en/a-kloster-rallye-maria-laach

​​Architecturally, the Abbey church at Maria Laach is a significant example of German Romanesque style. The mass masonry walls project solidity, and the six towers accentuate the symmetrical harmony of the floor plan, in which two transepts cross the long, vaulted nave. The plan of the church can be generally described as Basilican, wherein the worship space is arranged longitudinally, with a long, narrow nave for the lay congregation that faces the chancel, where the clergy performs the work of the liturgy. Architectural ornamentation throughout the nave is limited, drawing focus to the highly decorated baldachin above the altar, the colorful stained glass, and the large mosaic on the apse. Though the location for highly progressive conceptual reforms, the Abbey church at Maria Laach is archetypal of pre-reform churches.
 
Four hundred kilometers away, on the other side of Germany, an important node for the Modernist Movement in architecture was founded. In 1919, the Bauhaus school opened in Dessau, founded by architect Walter Gropius. The mandate of the school was the creation of Gesamtkunstwerk, a total design, that unified all of the artistic disciplines through mass production and an emphasis on function. The International Style, as the work coming out of the Bauhaus would come to be known, was just one of several styles tied up in the Modernist Movement. Modernism was global, as architects and designers across the world embraced new construction technologies and prioritized function at the expense of ornament. Institutions of experimentation like the Bauhaus educated individuals who brought ideas along with them. In 1932, the first exhibition of Modernist architecture in the US was held at the Museum of Modern Art, showcasing architects from the Bauhaus and beyond. This exhibition is credited as the formal introduction of the International Style to the US. The texts, images, and individuals were moving across the networked globe between institutional nodes, generating ideas like electricity to fuel the Modernist Movement.
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Clockwise from top-left:
Figure 5. 
The belltower at the Church of Notre-Dame du Raincy borrows the vertical accentuation of ancient Gothic architectural style, including small buttresses towards the top, but with entirely new materials and subsequent innovations.
Djah. Façade de l'église Notre-Dame du Raincy. 19 May 2023. Photograph. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:%C3%89glise_Notre-Dame_du_Raincy_-_M%C3%A9rim%C3%A9e_PA00079948_-_1.jpeg

Figure 6. 
The interior Church of Notre-Dame du Raincy has large stained glass windows defined by small claustra openings that give a lacy effect. 
Djah. Façade de l'église Notre-Dame du Raincy. 19 May 2023. Photograph. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fichier:%C3%89glise_Notre-Dame_du_Raincy_-_M%C3%A9rim%C3%A9e_PA00079948_-_5.jpeg

Figure 7. 
The main volume of Church of St. Engelbert consists of four parabolic arches intersecting at the center.
Kirche St. Engelbert, Köln-Riehl. Photograph. In Dominikus Böhm. Zurich: Verlag Schnell & Steiner, 1962.

Figure 8. 
Small oculi bring only a tiny amount of daylight into the main volume. One parabola has an extension for the choir and chancel and includes clerestory windows for additional lighting.
Kirche St. Engelbert, Köln-Riehl. Photograph. In Dominikus Böhm. Zurich: Verlag Schnell & Steiner, 1962.
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​In these heady interwar years, with innovative ideas swirling around architecture and theology alike, already the Liturgical Movement and the Modernist Movement were converging. Two significant examples in Europe presage the use of reinforced concrete as a favorite material for Modernist places of worship and are noted as early architectural expressions of the Liturgical Movement. [3] Église Notre-Dame du Raincy opened in 1923 and was designed by French architect Auguste Perret. The overall plan of this building is Basilican, with a long nave, symmetrical plan, and a tall belltower. The exterior and plan borrow and build on the past; the interior space is shockingly modern. The vaulted ceiling is an undulating plane of unfinished concrete, supported only by slender columns at the side aisles and floating above huge stained glass windows. Notre-Dame du Raincy demonstrates innovation in interiors and materials; St. Engelbert in Cologne-Riehl goes a step further in terms of form and volume. Opened in 1932, the church was designed by German architect Dominikus Böhm. The walls of this star-shaped building are curved like shields, accentuating the outrageous shape. The structure of the building is reinforced concrete — no other structural system could generate the parabolic forms. The use of innovative structure and sculptural form demonstrate the Modernist urge to press the limits of building technology. Interior furnishings date the building as a pre-Vatican II structure: originally the altar, designed by Böhm, was positioned for the celebrant to perform Mass ad orientum, facing the East and away from the congregation. [4] These early examples of Liturgical Modernism in Europe demonstrate the potential for Modernist architecture in Catholic Churches.

Figure 9. 
Frank Kacmarcik as a young Liturgical Consultant.
St. John’s Abbey Archives.

Frank Kacmarcik was born to devout first-generation immigrants in St. Paul in 1920 — his father from Slovakia and his mother from Poland. [5] He began formal art training only after high school, enrolling in the Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) in 1938. While a student, he encountered texts of the growing Liturgical Movement, including Orate Fratres, the liturgical journal from St. John’s Abbey edited by Virgil Michel. [6] In 1941, at age 21, Kacmarcik made his first visit to St. John’s. Drawn by its intellectual focus on liturgy, he was intrigued by the idea of becoming a “brother artist.” [7] He entered the Abbey as a novitiate from 1941–1943 but was not accepted into the brotherhood. After leaving, he was drafted into the U.S. Army as a surgical technician in Europe and later recruited as a Chaplain’s assistant in France. In what could be seen as his first informal role as a liturgical consultant, Kacmarcik converted an army kitchen into a chapel. [8] During his service, he visited cathedrals, monasteries, museums, and monuments across Europe. After the war, he returned to MCAD to complete his final year, then received a traveling scholarship and G.I. Bill support to continue his studies in Europe. He studied painting in Paris for a year, researched iconography and mosaics in Italy, and spent two years at the Centre d’Art Sacré in Lille, where he began designing liturgical furnishings and continued touring sacred sites. This period of study and travel gave Kacmarcik a broad understanding of liturgical art and design and deepened his own artistic skill.
 
During WWII and the surrounding years, the Liturgical Movement in the US picked up steam, driven by immigrants from Europe and clergy who spent time in Europe. The use of vernacular was in place at some parishes by the late 1930s and early 1940s. Congregations reported extraordinarily high turnout at these services, such as the 1948 report from St. Francis Parish in Detroit for a service where hymns were sung in Polish and the church “packed to capacity.” [9] Minnesota was the location of the first altar in the country installed to be permanently facing the congregation, dedicated in 1939 and located in the basement crypt chapel of the Church of the Nativity in St. Paul. [10] The vernacular mass and congregation-facing altar marked stirrings of the American Liturgical Movement, though mostly at the parish level. Broader institutional involvement came through Minnesota figures such as Father William Busch of St. Paul Seminary, Virgil Michel, a Benedictine oblate, and Abbot Alcuin Detsch of St. John’s Abbey. All had studied in Europe and shared influential texts from the European movement, translating and publishing them for American audiences. St. John’s Abbey thus became a hub for ideas from Maria Laach and other Benedictine monasteries. In 1938, Michel, of German descent, published the first call for English in the American Mass. [11] He promoted greater participation in the liturgy as an antidote to alienation and individualism and emphasized the need for architecture and art that fostered active worship. He called for a centrally placed altar and a baptistry at the church entrance to highlight initiation into the faith. In 1947, Pope Pius XII’s Mediator Dei affirmed these reforms, stressing community participation and the centrality of the Eucharist. These liturgical changes, in turn, required transformation in architecture and sacred art to support renewed worship.
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Figure 10. 
Minnesota was the location of the first altar in the country installed to be permanently facing the congregation, dedicated in 1939 and located in the basement crypt chapel of the Church of the Nativity in St. Paul.
The First Permanent Altar Facing the People. C 1939. Photograph. Liturgical Arts Journal. https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2024/12/the-first-permanent-altar-facing-people.html

Figure 11. 
In the Tridentine Mass, the Eucharist is performed in Latin with the celebrant facing the altar. 
Kolosky, Basil. Celebration of the Consecration Mass, Basilica of Saint Mary, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 27 June 1941. Photograph.  Basilica of Saint Mary Archives. https://collection.mndigital.org/catalog/bsm:75

After the war, Kacmarcik was hired to teach in the department of art at St. John’s University in 1950. Kacmarcik led the incorporation of a bachelor of art degree in sacred art, the first program of its kind in the United States. [12] Kacmarcik viewed sacred art as both a devotional practice, for the artist, and a didactic tool, for the viewer. In 1954 he wrote about the “sacramental” nature of art, “to mirror outwardly the inner essences of things, to picture and embody in matter, the world of spirit and of truth.” [13] While on faculty, Kacmarcik used his skills as an artist and designer to provide the covers and interior layout for Worship, the publication formerly known as Orate Fratres. The images consist of only the essential lines and shapes to communicate form and meaning, yet are figurative and descriptive, reflecting the idea from Mediator Dei that art should enact a balance between styles that tends neither to extreme realism nor to excessive symbolism. Kacmarcik wrote in Liturgical Arts that the artist “gives expression to the Church’s mind, the mind of Christ, by presenting her truths visually.” [14] For Kacmarcik, only through intense personal study and devotional practice could an artist be of sound enough theological standing to properly express spiritual ideas; this practice of communication and education was the duty of sacred artists. This understanding of the capacity of visual art and design to communicate theological and spiritual concepts to a broad audience would later be important in Kacmarcik’s career as a liturgical consultant.

Figures 12, 13. 
Kacmarcik’s cover designs for Worship demonstrate well his tendency towards strong, graphic images with high contrast and high legibility.
Left: Kacmarcik, Frank. Cover Drawing, Worship magazine, Vol. XXVI, No. 2, January 1952. Internet Archive.
Right: Kacmarcik, Frank. Cover Drawing, Worship magazine, Vol. XXVI, No. 6, May 1952. Internet Archive.​

Figure 14.
St. John’s Abbey Church, depicted here c. 1909, was a Basilican plan with traditional architectural ornamentation prior to the construction of Marcel Breuer’s design.
St. John’s Abbey Archives.

​Kacmarcik was back at St. John’s during a fortuitous time, as the monks were embarking on an ambitious campus redesign. Abbot Dworschak gave Father Meinberg the task of composing a letter of invitation to solicit architects to design a master plan. Meinberg in turn tapped Kacmarcik for his knowledge of design. The call was for a hundred-year master plan for the abbey and schools. Of note is the gesture towards Modernism included in the call for proposals. In the last paragraph, the Benedictines wrote, “The Benedictine tradition at its best challenges us to think boldly and to cast our ideals in forms which will be valid for centuries to come, shaping them with all the genius of present-day materials and techniques. We feel that the modern architect with his orientation toward functionalism and honest use of materials is uniquely qualified to produce a Catholic work.” [15] The solicitation for a progressive master plan went out in 1953 to twelve architects: five Europeans and seven Americans, with diverse backgrounds and faith traditions. The winner was Hungarian-born, Bauhaus-educated, US-based Marcel Breuer. Breuer fit the monk’s top criteria in two of three categories: he was a talented artist with good character and integrity, he was young enough to see the project through completion, but he was not Catholic. [16] Breuer’s studious manner and demonstrated ability to listen to the monks assuaged their concerns about his faith tradition. Breuer was suggested for the invitation by Kacmarcik, who visited Breuer’s exhibition house at MoMA in 1949 and was taken by his talent for domestic space. Kacmarcik thought that a background in domestic architecture would be useful, as the master plan included housing for students and monks. The collaboration between Breuer and the Benedictine monks at St. John’s is legendary, as the monks had a clear vision for the potential of Modernist architecture, and Breuer delivered a singular masterpiece. During the design process, Kacmarcik was again tapped for his knowledge of art and design, this time to assist in the selection and commission of sacred art for the Abbey. This was extremely useful for Breuer, who would not allow the Gesamtkunstwerk of the Abbey design to be foiled by unattractive art, and, being born Jewish but converted to Lutheran, was not familiar with the parameters necessary for Catholic art. Kacmarcik, trained in both art and theology, was the perfect go-between. This was Kacmarcik’s first official post in the role of liturgical consultant, a title that he would come to define in the US.

Left: Figure 15.
​The collaboration between Breuer and the Benedictine monks at St. John’s is legendary, as the monks had a clear vision for the potential of Modernist architecture, and Breuer delivered a singular masterpiece.
Breuer at St. John’s, exterior. Photograph.  15 July 1961. Minneapolis Star Tribune

Above: Figure16.
The sculptural bell banner at St. John’s Abbey Church calls the faithful to worship and spatially acts as a threshold between the sacred and profane.
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John’s Abbey. 1956-1961. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. ​http://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/28938

The design of the Abbey at St. John’s is significant not only for the ambitious, sculptural quality of Breuer’s design, but also because it is deeply influenced by the Liturgical Movement and presages some, but not all, of the changes in the Church that would come out of Vatican II. The choreography begins on the drive up, where the sculptural bell banner calls the faithful to worship and spatially acts as a threshold between the sacred and profane. Entering from the bell banner, the congregation passes through the baptistry. This transition space works twofold: theologically, the believer is reminded of their initiation into the faith through baptism; architecturally, the antechamber works as a moment of compression before the release of the nave and is a handy place for the congregation to gather before and after the Mass. Once inside, the trapezoidal ground plan puts the lay congregation, the monastic community, and the celebrant on the same axis, drawn to the altar. This gravitational pull is set off by a floating canopy above the altar that architecturally marks the primacy of the Eucharist. The altar is designed such that mass can be celebrated in either direction - facing the lay congregation, or facing the monastic community. With these details, the Abbey Church is participating in the Liturgical Movement’s agenda to define the Church as a House of God’s People.
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Figure 17.
The small communion tables surrounding the altar were designed to act as an altar rail, a barrier that disappeared from most church designs following Vatican II. 
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John’s Abbey. 1956-1961. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. http://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/28938

Figure 18.
Crypt chapel at St. John’s Abbey Church, dedicated to St. Thomas Aquinas. Art commissioned and selected by Kacmarcik.
St. John’s Abbey Archives.

St. John’s Abbey Church represents a turning point in Liturgical Modernism, as several architectural gestures are now vestigial, following the second Vatican council. The most visible is the presence of communion tables surrounding the altar. These small surfaces were designed to act as an altar rail. While not as obtrusive as the altar rails at a more traditionally designed church, the communion tables were no longer explicitly a part of the liturgy following the edicts of Vatican II, which found that communion is a sacrament of union, and ensuing interpretations viewed the rail as a barrier. A less visible remnant are the crypt chapels below the main sanctuary. These small chapels were important for the monastic community, as each monk was required to celebrate Low Mass daily. After Vatican II, concurrent celebration was permitted, and the crypt chapels were no longer needed.With its community-focused architecture, Breuer’s design for the Abbey Church was informed by the Abbey’s participation in and knowledge of the Liturgical Movement. Thanks in part to the collaboration with Frank Kacmarcik, the total design of the Abbey Church is a landmark for the Modernist Movement.

From 1962 to 1965, the Second Vatican Council convened 2,813 delegates from around the world in Rome to discuss the Catholic Church’s relationship to the modern world. Among them was Abbot Baldwin of St. John’s Abbey. The Council’s effort to renew the Church was the result of more than sixty years of advocacy from the Liturgical Movement. Vatican II’s primary documents outlined how to modernize the liturgy. The most influential, Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963), permitted the use of the vernacular and required each diocese to form commissions on sacred liturgy, music, and art. In 1967, Eucharisticum Mysterium directed that “the main altar should be so placed and constructed that it is always to be the sign of Christ Himself... and the center of the assembly.” These Vatican texts offered conceptual guidance while allowing interpretive freedom. Eucharisticum Mysterium was taken to mean altars should be freestanding and no longer divided from the nave by altar rails. Implementation fell to diocesan commissions, which did not issue their own guidelines until the 1978 publication of Environment and Art in Catholic Worship (EACW) by the Bishop’s Committee on Liturgy. The illustrated booklet presented 107 points on topics from the “personal-communal” nature of religious experience to the role of audiovisuals, noting parallels between modern media and stained glass. Critics questioned EACW’s authorship and the influence of liturgical consultants, pointing out that 34 of its 39 photographs depicted Kacmarcik’s work. [16] Others attacked its Modernist aesthetic, denouncing the “cold, hard lines” and “overemphasis on utility” typical of the style. [17] These debates intensified as growing congregations sought to update or build new churches.

​In the midcentury, many congregations were looking to build a new church, as enrollment surged. The American population grew 29% from 1926 to 1950, and the percentage of Americans who were members of a religious organization skyrocketed from 25% in 1900, 40% in 1940, 57% in 1950, up to its peak at 63% in 1958. [18] Some of this growth in faith is attributed to demographic shift, as many young families in the postwar era sought out a parish as they welcomed their first children. Some scholars also attribute the religious boom to shifting identities: as ethnic, neighborhood, and regional ties faded due to increased interstate mobility postwar, Americans seeking a sense of belonging turned to the church. Congregations adapted programming to accommodate those seeking community and expanded from just Sunday service to become a social hub with facilities like child care, school, community meals, and more. This era saw the first generation of “cry rooms” at churches. Demographic shifts were also spatially enacted, as increasing numbers of white families left the city for the suburbs. By the 1950s, the country was spending $2 million every day on the construction of religious buildings, most of them in the suburbs.

Figure 19.
St. John’s Church in Biwabik, MN opened in 1956 during a period when many new churches, most in Modernist style, were constructed. Frank Kacmarcik was liturgical consultant for St. John’s in Biwabik. 
Person, Aaron J. St. John’s Church, Biwabik. Docomomo US/MN. 

Figure 20.
St. John’s the Baptist in Excelsior, MN, opened in 1960. Frank Kacmarcik served as liturgical consultant. Laminated wood trusses were an innovation in construction technology in the midcentury. 
Interior Image. https://stjohns-excelsior.org/about/our-parish/

​With the church construction boom came designs in every architectural style, often sorted along denominational and regional lines. Colonial revival became the semi-official architectural style for the Latter Day Saints, popular in the South and Mid-Atlantic regions. Lutheran congregations were among the first to take to Modernism, represented in Minnesota by the Saarinens’ design for Christ Church Lutheran. New technologies allowed for increasingly sculptural approaches to design, as the steeply pitched roof, constructed of a thin concrete shell, was taken to represent the image of praying hands. Laminated wood trusses were popular, particularly the curved or bowstring truss, in part because the interior had the effect of feeling like a boat, another visual metaphor. Of particular note is the speed with which Modernist churches could be constructed, as the use of prefabricated parts allowed for short construction times and smaller budgets. These practical advantages meant that Modernist churches were the most popular style of the time, and built with varying degrees of ambition and success. Interestingly, theologically conservative traditions were among the most willing to embrace Modernism, such as the Southern Baptist, LDS, and Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. [19] For Catholics, the Modernist move in Church architecture was the topic of great debate. Concerns over whether or not the Modern style was sufficiently Catholic spread in journals. Liturgical consultants also came to take on an educational role, helping clergy and parishioners to embrace design elements previously unfamiliar in Places of Worship, such as seating arranged radially around the altar.

Kacmarcik pioneered the role of liturgical consultant within the Catholic Church, and was officially in practice for 24 years by the time EACW officially recognized the role. [20] That 1978 document defined a liturgical consultant as one who partners with the architect so that “space can be imagined and the place creatively designed only by a competent designer who is nourished with the liturgy's tradition, its current shape, together with the appropriate furniture and other objects used.” As such, the liturgical consultant is cast as a go-between the architect and the congregation, and the architect need not be of a particular tradition to design for a certain congregation. Each project takes on a distinct character for the liturgical consultant. Their background defines their area of expertise; in Kacmarcik’s case, his training as an artist and designer often led him to design furnishings and select art for churches. [21] Kacmarcik is noted by those who knew him for his brash manner and strong taste. His commitment to design integrity meant that he was often, as liturgical consultant Carol Frenning put it in 2004, “the one who broke the mold of the old wine skins to make appropriate containers for the new wine.” [22] In addition to working on projects with monastic communities and parishes, Kacmarcik gave public lectures to clergy and lay people alike on the topics of proper art and design. He had some choice words for commercial art, calling a picture of a cherubic infant Jesus “blasphemous” and an overly romanticized portrait of the Virgin Mary “Our Lady of Meringue.” [23] In multiple lectures Kacmarcik noted the beauty of barns and agricultural buildings and their potential as inspiration for Places of Worship. [24] This preference is similar to Walter Gropius, who expressed in his essay “The Development of Modern Industrial Architecture” that silos and similar buildings were superior to non-Modernist architecture due to their “clear contrasts, orderly articulation in the arrangement of every part, and unity of form and color.” [25] The strength with which Kacmarcik expressed his taste was supported by a deeply held religious belief. For Kacmarcik, being a liturgical consultant was a vocation, a calling given and supported by God. [26] Kacmarcik’s training, familiarity with the nuances of theology, and religious beliefs gave him the fortitude to act as a strong collaborator to guide parishes and architects through the design process.

In Minnesota, Kacmarcik collaborated with architects and parishes to create spaces that demonstrate Liturgical Modernism, when the intersection of the ideas and forms of the Liturgical Movement and Modernist Movement blend and create a sum greater than their parts. St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins is one such example. Of the building Kacmarcik said, “[it] is a prophetic building, a classic, and my favorite project. It will live long after my ashes have been lost.” [27] Completed in 1967, the building was designed by Progressive Design Associates, Inc., with George Rafferty as the Partner in Charge of Design and Frank Mikutowski as the Partner in Charge of Production. [28] The site plan represents changing theological concerns and American social history: as ad orientum orientation along an east-west axis declined in popularity, concerns about a church’s relationship to the parking lot and surrounding suburban neighborhood increased. [29] St. John the Evangelist follows the suburban church site planning logic, with the chancel wall facing the street and the narthex facing the interior of the lot, accessed from parking. Also typical of the time period was the idea of the church as part of a larger campus, including a school, small chapel, kitchen, church administrative functions, and space for a future rectory. The exterior is elegant and monolithic, with each primary volume wrapped in the same brick and set off by a triangular roof. The functions of the campus are broken into smaller volumes, helping the building fit into the suburban neighborhood. The site plan, with multiple entrances flowing into the worship space, and the careful attention to massing demonstrate the designers’ intent for the building to be about people. Craig Rafferty, son of George Rafferty and noted Minneapolis architect of worship spaces himself, spoke about the building as expressing the spirit of Vatican II in that the spirit is “focused not on Church as a building, but Church as a community.” [30] Sister Charlotte Anne Zalot, the Benedictine nun who wrote her PhD about Kacmarcik in 2004, interpreted the design through the idea of hospitability, an attribute important to the Benedictine order and to Kacmarcik. Zalot wrote, “Kacmarcik has always realized [the importance of hospitality in Christianity], at Saint John the Evangelist Church, he gave great importance to, not only the hospitality of the entire liturgical space, but to the provision of a space for gathering.” [31]
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Figure 21.
The social condenser space at St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins, MN, begins at the outdoor plaza. 
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. 1970-1971. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives.
https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/163510

Figure 22.
At St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins, MN, the narthex is largely unprogrammed, save for the baptismal font, but set off by warm natural materials and capable of different functions.
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. 1970-1971. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives.
https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/163510

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At St. John’s, this space begins at the exterior, in the plaza between the main volumes of the space. Funneling inside, the narthex is largely unprogrammed, save for the baptismal font, but set off by warm natural materials and capable of different functions. This is where people could gather intentionally, like for a baptism event, or run into each other by chance, as they trace the spiraling path into the main sanctuary for mass. The string of in-between spaces, both vital for function and unprogrammed, is similar to Russian Modernist Architect Moisei Ginzburg’s conception of “social condenser” which he called a mechanism for the reorganization of social life. [32] In Ginzburg’s work, the social condenser spaces were partially programmed and partly indeterminate, just like the narthex at St. John’s. Entering the main worship space, the ceiling plane envelopes the visitor. All lighting is from above, with deep light wells encased in warm wood. The white walls are by design. Kacmarcik said, “I wanted the walls white, so that the architecture would be clearly a container for the assembly. The ornaments of the space are the people. The colors of their faces and their clothes are its color." [33] The freestanding altar has behind it only the barest hint of ornamentation: thin metal strips are inlaid to create a minimal, slender cross.
​

Left: Figure 23.
The ceiling plane at St. John the Evangelist envelope the visitor, with deep light wells encased in warm wood.
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. 1970-1971. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/163510

Above: Figure 24.
The freestanding altar at St. John the Evangelist has behind it only the barest hint of ornamentation: thin metal strips are inlaid to create a minimal, slender cross. 
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. 1970-1971. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. https://dome.mit.edu/handle/1721.3/163510

Kacmarcik’s preference for minimal ornamentation was visible in the design at St. John the Baptist in New Brighton. There, Kacmarcik’s design for sacred furniture pieces played off the architecture to realize Gesamtkunstwerk when the building opened in 1968.  Designed by Shifflet, Hutchison & Associates, Inc, with Kacmarcik as liturgical consultant and designer for key interior furniture pieces, the building demonstrates key elements of Liturgical Modernism. The exterior uses the Late Modernist language of abstracted geometry to evoke a castle. These bays also define the uses of the space within, demonstrating the Modernist maxim that form follows function. The brick used for exterior is continued at the interior, wrapping around the massive nave. The building was constructed using a steel structure—an absolute necessity for the huge span. The steel is hidden in the ceiling plane, punctured with square skylights and clerestory windows. The massive nave is rectangular, with the longest aisle located parallel to the altar, rather than the Basilican tradition of a long, perpendicular aisle. The Kacmarcik-designed altar is a simple, bulky form with three legs, constructed of Cold Spring Granite. The altar is pulled out from the back wall and located on a raised platform, highlighted by clerestory windows above, and surrounded on three sides by congregation pews. This arrangement underlines the communal aspect of the Eucharist, using simple Modernist forms and gestures to place emphasis on the sacramental table.
​

Figure 25.
The exterior at St. John the Baptist in New Brighton, MN uses the Late Modernist language of abstracted geometry to evoke a castle.
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. 1968-1969. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. ​http://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/28938

Figure 26.
The brick used for exterior is continued at the interior, wrapping around the massive nave.
Smith, G.E. Kidder. St. John the Baptist Catholic Church. 1968-1969. Photograph. G.E. Kidder Smith Image Collection, MIT Archives. ​http://hdl.handle.net/1721.3/28938

Figure 27.
Early image of the sanctuary at St. John the Baptist. Altar, presider’s chair, lectern, altar, sanctuary lamp, and candlesticks designed by Frank Kacmarcik.
Altar. C. 1970. Photograph. St. John the Baptist New Brighton, Collection.

In photos from the period, the altar is not consistently depicted with a crucifix on the chancel wall. There is a liturgical function to not including a fixed cross, as during Lent the crucifix is often obscured. The other Kacmarcik-designed furniture at the altar, including the celebrant’s chair, the lectern, the processional cross, server chairs, and candlesticks are all designed to highlight their natural materials, with no excess ornamentation. At a later date, the Kacmarcik-designed tabernacle was relocated to be behind the altar, and a contemporary baldachin added. Of particular note is the lectern. In Kacmarcik’s drawings for this piece, he notes the granite should have natural cleavage and be foundry sanded; the material expresses its true form and the means of its quarrying. The form expresses the function, as a sturdy place for the Holy Word is set at an angle to the stand, but also, the shape closely mimics the bell tower of the building. This expression of material properties and incorporation of design ideas from exterior to interior displays Gesamtkunstwerk.
​

The bell tower and the lectern resemble each other, displaying Gesamtkunstwerk.

Above: Figure 28.
Dant, Michael. St. John the Baptist bell tower C 2021. Photograph. https://www.flickr.com/photos/faasdant/albums/72157719616733949/

Right: Figure 29.
​Ambo. C. 1970. Photograph. St. John the Baptist New Brighton, Collection. 

The new construction projects of St. John the Evangelist in Hopkins and St. John the Baptist in New Brighton represent Kacmarcik’s role as liturgical consultant at full capacity, with the ability to enact his Modernist preferences and Liturgical interpretations without the constraints of an existing building. Renovation projects presented a different challenge and required careful work. St. Mary’s Chapel at the Saint Paul Seminary, was one such renovation project, another collaboration between Kacmarcik and George Rafferty (Rafferty’s firm was then called Rafferty, Rafferty, and Tollefson, Inc.), The project was an update to the 1905 building designed by Clarence H. Johnston. This existing building has strong ties to Minnesota’s history, as the structure was financed by railroad baron James J. Hill, built on land donated by Irish immigrant William Finn, and the seminary’s master plan designed by noted architect Cass Gilbert. [34]
​

Above: Figure 30.
The 1905 building for St. Mary’s Chapel was designed by Clarence H. Johnston. 
An exterior view of St. Mary's Chapel at the Saint Paul Seminary, c. 1910. Photograph. University of St. Thomas University Archives. https://cdm17521.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/photograph/id/1088/rec/3

Center: Figure 31. Right: Figure 32.
​The interior of St. Mary’s Chapel was decorated in the 1920s by the Boston ecclesiastical design firm Maginnis & Walsh.St. Mary's Chapel at the Saint Paul Seminary. C. 1940. Photograph. University of St. Thomas University Archives. https://cdm17521.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/photograph/id/400/rec/2

The Basilican plan of the church took on an eclectic Revival style, with Romanesque-Byzantine architecture visible at the exterior in the solidity of the massing and the arch-shaped nave. The interior was decorated in the 1920s by the Boston ecclesiastical design firm Maginnis & Walsh. The highly decorated apse was set off from the nave by rows of choir seating. The altar was a large Carrara marble piece, located on the back wall of the apse. In the 1980s, the Benedictine nuns wished to update the church based on Vatican II. Kacmarcik and the architects reversed the altar from its location at the apse to a new location in front of the choir loft. The side altars, statues, and some decorative surfaces were removed, along with eight columns that were relocated to an addition, built to house a gathering place for the congregation. In the new configuration, the original flat roof and lattice of wood beams appear strikingly modern opposite the checkerboard floor. The previous carved wood pews are replaced for a lighter version, reconfigurable for different purposes.
​

Figure 33.
The renovation at St. Mary’s Chapel flipped the circulation, placing the altar at the rear. 
St. Mary’s Chapel, Interior. Architecture Advantage. Photograph. https://architectureadvantage.com/project/saint-marys-chapel/

Figure 34.
The addition of a gathering space at St. Mary’s Chapel provided a useful new program space for the congregation.
St. Mary’s Chapel, Interior. June 2024. Photograph. St. Paul Seminary Facebook. 

The function of the interior at St. Mary’s Chapel is updated and the hospitable gathering place added to the entry choreography, but not without controversy. Critics of the renovation derisively termed it a “wreckovation,” decrying the loss of the original circulation and original interior pieces. [35]This controversy highlights not only the challenges of adapting existing buildings—with their architectural constraints and invested communities—but also the growing backlash against Vatican II and the Modernist churches that followed. Ongoing debates about whether Modernism can faithfully express Catholic belief connect to neo-traditionalist calls to restore the Tridentine Mass. In November 2000, Built of Living Stones (BLS) was approved by the National Catholic Conference of Bishops to replace EACW. The document retained central ideas from Vatican II and EACW, reaffirming that liturgy is the participation of God’s people in God’s work and that sacred art should deepen understanding of the Gospel’s mysteries. Unlike EACW and its Modernist illustrations, BLS does not promote a single architectural or artistic style. Instead, it encourages architecture that reflects the “culture of [its] time and place.” Critics of EACW welcomed BLS for tempering the high Modernism of the twentieth century, yet the document remains nonprescriptive, emphasizing the liturgy’s function and the needs of contemporary congregations—linking it, ultimately, back to Liturgical Modernism.​

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The intersections of the Liturgical Movement and the Modernist Movement in Minnesota were created by the conditions of immigration patterns and social history in the US. The parallel trajectories of these Movements as they emanated from academic nodes in Europe, spurred by institutional nodes of incubation and magnified by forces both ideological and practical, defined the career of Frank Kacmarcik and the profession he pioneered—the liturgical consultant. Updates to the liturgy necessitated updates to architecture, as changing function requires updated forms. Continuous theological repositioning throughout the 20th century in the Catholic Church underlined the need for the role of liturgical consultant to act as an educator, mediator, and interpreter. Kacmarcik’s penchant for Modernism and commitment to honesty — in opinion and in materials— helped to spread the architectural style across the country as parishes rushed to accommodate the influx of new congregants and meet the post-Vatican II doctrine. The midcentury Modernist churches were not without controversy, as concerns over whether or not the style was sufficiently Catholic persisted throughout the era. Despite the controversy, the center of Kacmarcik’s design sensibility is participation and communal worship. Whether expressed through radial seating arcing around the altar, through bold art that communicates theological ideas graphically, or through the use of spatial choreography as a social condenser, the ideas Kacmarcik developed in his career support the thesis that the Church is a House of God’s People. Although the Basilican plan, originating in Ancient Rome, is often regarded as the traditional design for churches, the authentic Catholic liturgical tradition is rooted in the practice of gathering around an altar—even in times of persecution, as in early Rome. [36] Perhaps what is new for Liturgical Modernism is not the form or the material, but bringing worship into a joyous, public celebration of community.

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Watch the Recorded Presentation:

Mary Dahlman Smith presented her new research, Liturgy & Modernism: Frank Kacmarcik’s influence in Minnesota in a webinar on October 16, 2025. Watch the recorded presentation here!

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​Frank Kacmarcik Locations in Minnesota:

Not independently verified. Original source: Frank Kacmarcik personal archives - from full list published in Zalot, Charlotte Anne. 2004. Revisioning Liturgical Space and Furnishings in American Roman Catholic Churches, 1947–2002: The Pioneering Role of Frank Kacmarcik, Artist-Designer and Consultant in the Sacred Arts. Ph.D. diss., Drew University.

​View FK Projects in Google Maps

Dates of FK Consultation(s)	Name	Location
1947	Church of the Visitation	Minneapolis
1950s, 1980s	College of St Catherine	St. Paul
1950s	St. Augustine	St. Cloud
1953-1959	St. Donatus Church	Brooten
1953-1961	St. John's Abbey Church	Collegeville
1954	Queen of Angels Church	Austin
1955, 1972	St. John the Baptist Church	Biwabik
1955	St. Patrick Church	Edina
1956	St. Catherine's Chapel	St. Paul
1956	St. Mary Cathedral - Phase 1	St. Cloud
1957	St. Boniface Church	Minneapolis
1958, 1960, 1970-72, 1980	St. John the Baptist Church	Excelsior
1959	St. Richard Church	Richfield
1960s	Archbishop's Chapel	St. Paul
1960s	Holy Name Church	Wayzata
1960s	Home of the Good Shepard	St. Paul
1960s	St. Cloud Newman Center	St. Cloud
1960s	St. John the Baptist Church	New Brighton
1961	Church of the Holy Name	Minneapolis
1961	St. Philip Church	North Minneapolis
1962	St. John the Baptist Ruthenian Church	Minneapolis
1966	St. Luke Convent	St. Paul
1966	St. Paul Church	Minnesota City
1966-1969	St. Leo Church	Pipestone
1967-1968	St. Joseph Church	Foxhome
1967-1972	St. John the Evangelist	Hopkins
1968-1970	St. Peter's Parish Center	North St. Paul
1969	St. Marcus Church	Clear Lake
1970	St. Marcus Parish	Clear Lake
1970	St. Stephen Lutheran Church	Bloomington
1970s	Assisi Heights Church	Rochester
1970s	Church of the Risen Savior	Apple Valley
1970s	Church of St. Mark	Shakopee
1970s, 1980s, 1982	Luther / Northwestern Seminary Chapel	St. Paul
1971	Church of St. Joseph	Red Wing
1971	Church of St. Rita	Cottage Grove
1971-1972	St. Joseph Church	St. Joseph
1972	Church of St. Edward	Princeton
1972	Church of St. Timothy	Minneapolis
1973-1976	St. Paul Church	Sauk Center
1974, 1993-1997	St. Mary Church	Alexandria
1975	Holy Spirit Parish	Virginia
1975-1976	St. Francis Convent Chapel	St. Paul
1976	St. Mark Church	Shakopee
1976	Temple Israel	Minneapolis
1977	St. Theodore Church	Albert Lea
1978	Atonement Lutheran Church	St. Cloud
1979	Saints Peter and Joseph Church	Browerville
1980	St. Boniface Church	Cold Spring
1980s	Immaculate Conception Church	Faribault
1980s	St. Mary Cathedral Phase 2	St. Cloud
1980s, 1990s	St. Mary Chapel, St. Paul Seminary	St. Paul
1981	Assumption Church	St. Paul
1981-1983	Sacred Heart Chapel	St. Joseph
1982	St. Bernard Church (Planning)	St. Paul
1985	St. Michael Parish	St. Michael
1987	Edina Community Lutheran Church	Edina
1987	Sacred Heart Church	Frazee
1988-1991	St. Bernard Parish	St. Paul
1988-1991	St. Cloud Hospital Chapel	St. Cloud
1990s	Christ the King Church	Minneapolis
1990s	St. Elizabeth Ann Seton	Hastings
1994	Immaculate Conception Church	Rice

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​Notes:
​​

1. John Cavadini, Mary Healy, Thomas Weinandy, “The Liturgy Prior to Vatican II and The Council’s Reforms,” Church Life  Journal, 3 October 2022, Notre Dame, https://churchlifejournal.nd.edu/articles/the-liturgy-prior-to-vatican-ii-and-the-councils-reforms
2. Keith F. Pecklers, The Unread Vision: The Liturgical Movement in the United States of America, 1926-1955, (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998), 7.
3. Charlotte Anne Zalot. 2004. Revisioning liturgical space and furnishings in American Roman Catholic Churches, 1947–2002: The pioneering role of Frank Kacmarcik, artist-designer and consultant in the sacred arts. (Ph.D. diss., Drew University), 160.
4. Ana Paula Borghi de Avelar, Michel Toussaint Alves Pereira, “The Modern Catholic Architecture of Post-War Germany: Rudolf Schwarz, Dominikus Böhm and Other German Architects,” Histories of Postwar Architecture 6 (13): 170-92. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0075/18484.
5. Kevin R. Seasoltz, “From the Bauhaus to the House of God’s People: Frank Kacmarcik’s Contribution to Church Architecture and Art,” U.S. Catholic Historian 15, no. 1 (1997): 105–22. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25154575, 105.
6. Zalot, Revisioning liturgical space, 24.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid, 35.
9. Pecklers, The Unread Vision, 38.
10. John Paul Sonnen. “The First Permanent Altar Facing the People in the United States,” Liturgical  Arts Journal, 3 December 2023, https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2024/12/the-first-permanent-altar-facing-people.html
11.  Victoria M. Young, Saint John’s Abbey Church: Marcel Breuer and the Creation of a Modern Sacred Space, (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014), 23.
12. Zalot, Revisioning liturgical space, 8.
13. Ibid, 44.
14. The Saint John's University Bulletin, vol. 86 (Saint Paul: North Central Publishing, 1954).
15. Young, Saint John’s Abbey Church, 32.
16. Duncan G. Stroik. “Environment and Art in Catholic Worship - A Critique,” The Institute for Sacred Architecture, Vol. 2, https://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/environment_and_art_in_catholic_worship_a_critique
17. Michael S. Rose, The Renovation Manipulation: The Church Counter-Renovation Handbook, (Milford: Hope of Saint Monica, Inc, 2001), 2-3.
18. Jay M. Price, Temples for a Modern God: Religious Architecture in Postwar America, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 50.
19. Ibid, 143.
20. Zalot, Revisioning liturgical space, 80.
21. Carol Frenning, interview by Mary Dahlman Smith, 27 September 2025, telephone interview.
22. Carol Frenning, “Remembering Frank Kacmarcik,” Faith & Form, Vol. XXXVII, No. 2, 2004.
23. Dick Cunningham, “He teaches clergy their artistic ABCs,” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 6 January 1964, 15.
24. “Simple church buildings termed best approach,” Winona Daily News, 1 December 1967.
25. Walter Gropius,  Die Entwicklung Moderner Industriebaukunst, Die Kunst in Industrie und Handel: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Werkbundes, 1913.
26. Frank Kacmarcik, "The Berakah Award for 1981," Worship 55, no. 4 (1981).
27. Ibid.
28. “Award: St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church,” Progressive Architecture, January 1968.
29. Price, Temples for a Modern God, 59.
30. Craig Rafferty, interview by Mary Dahlman Smith, 9 October 2025, telephone interview.
31. Zalot, Revisioning liturgical space, 349.
32. Moisei Ginzburg, Style and Epoch, (Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982).  
33. Kacmarcik, "The Berakah Award for 1981," 368.
34. Victoria M. Young, Katherine R. Solomonson, “Cass Gilbert and the St. Paul Seminary: Creating an American Architectural Legacy,” St. Thomas Magazine, https://news.stthomas.edu/publication-article/cass-gilbert-and-the-st-paul-seminary-creating-an-american-architectural-legacy/
35. Michael S. Rose, "Church Restoration, Renovation & the Third Millennium,” The Institute for Sacred Architecture, Vol. 3, https://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/church_restoration_renovation_the_third_millennium
36. Rafferty, interview.​​

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​Bibliography:

“Progressive Architecture Design Award for St. John the Evangelist, Hopkins.” Progressive Architecture 49 (1968): 104–5.

Borghi de Avelar, Ana Paula, and Michel Toussaint Alves Pereira. “The Modern Catholic Architecture of Post-War Germany: Rudolf Schwarz, Dominikus Böhm and Other German Architects.” Histories of Postwar Architecture 6, no. 13 (2023): 170–92. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.2611-0075/18484
 
Bruggink, Donald J. & Carl H. Droppers. When Faith Takes Form: Contemporary Churches of Architectural Integrity in America. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1971
 
Buggeln, Gretchen. The Suburban Church: Modernism and Community in Postwar America. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015.
 
Cavadini, John, Mary Healy, and Thomas Weinandy. “The Liturgy Prior to Vatican II and The Council’s Reforms.” Church Life Journal, October 3, 2022.
Cunningham, Dick. “He Teaches Clergy Their Artistic ABCs.” Minneapolis Star Tribune, 6 January 1964, 15.
Frenning, Carol. “Remembering Frank Kacmarcik.” Faith & Form 37, no. 2 (2004).
Frenning, Carol. Telephone interview by Mary Dahlman Smith, 27 September 2025.

Ginzburg, Moisei. Style and Epoch. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1982.
 
Gropius, Walter. “Die Entwicklung Moderner Industriebaukunst.” In Die Kunst in Industrie und Handel: Jahrbuch des Deutschen Werkbundes, 1913.

Kacmarcik, Frank. “The Berakah Award for 1981.” Worship 55, no. 4 (1981): 368.

Madden, Lawrence J. “Designing Space for Celebrating Eucharist.” Faith & Form 36, no. 3 (2003): 21.

Osborne, Catherine R. American Catholics and the Church of Tomorrow: Building Churches for the Future, 1925-1975. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2018.

Pecklers, Keith F. The Unread Vision: The Liturgical Movement in the United States of America, 1926–1955. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 1998.

Price, Jay M. Temples for a Modern God: Religious Architecture in Postwar America. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

Rafferty, Craig. Telephone interview by Mary Dahlman Smith, 9 October 2025.

Rother, Patrick. Telephone interview by Mary Dahlman Smith, 12 September 2025.

Rose, Michael S. The Renovation Manipulation: The Church Counter-Renovation Handbook. Milford, OH: Hope of Saint Monica, Inc., 2001.

Rose, Michael S. “Church Restoration, Renovation & the Third Millennium.” The Institute for Sacred Architecture 3. https://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/church_restoration_renovation_the_third_millennium

Schloeder, Steven. “Back to the Drawing Board: Rethinking Church Architecture.” Crisis Magazine, 1 February 2000. https://crisismagazine.com/vault/back-to-the-drawing-board-rethinking-church-architecture

Seasoltz, R. Kevin. “From the Bauhaus to the House of God’s People: Frank Kacmarcik’s Contribution to Church Architecture and Art.” U.S. Catholic Historian 15, no. 1 (1997): 105–22. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25154575.
 
Sonnen, John Paul. “The First Permanent Altar Facing the People in the United States” Liturgical Arts Journal, 3 December 2024
https://www.liturgicalartsjournal.com/2024/12/the-first-permanent-altar-facing-people.html
 
Stroik, Duncan G. “Environment and Art in Catholic Worship — A Critique.” The Institute for Sacred Architecture, vol. 2. https://www.sacredarchitecture.org/articles/environment_and_art_in_catholic_worship_a_critique.

The Saint John’s University Bulletin. Vol. 86. Saint Paul: North Central Publishing, 1954.

Young, Victoria M. Saint John’s Abbey Church: Marcel Breuer and the Creation of a Modern Sacred Space. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014.

Young, Victoria M., and Katherine R. Solomonson. “Cass Gilbert and the St. Paul Seminary: Creating an American Architectural Legacy.” Newsroom | University of St. Thomas. https://news.stthomas.edu/publication-article/cass-gilbert-and-the-st-paul-seminary-creating-an-american-architectural-legacy/

Zalot, Charlotte Anne. 2004. Revisioning Liturgical Space and Furnishings in American Roman Catholic Churches, 1947–2002: The Pioneering Role of Frank Kacmarcik, Artist-Designer and Consultant in the Sacred Arts. Ph.D. diss., Drew University.

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