By popular demand, the JES will offer a follow-up to its successful tour of Erie church buildings of July 2024. Once again, our guide will be Dr. Michael E. DeSanctis, JES Scholar-in-Residence and Gannon University Professor Emeritus of Fine Arts and Theology. This time, participants will tour two East Side churches in the city of Erie built in the Romanesque style: St. John the Baptist Church, once home to a large German-American congregation, and St. Stanislaus Church, a building dear to Erie's Polish-American population. The tour will focus on the connection between aesthetic and spiritual experience as embodied in the language of church architecture and leave participants with a better sense of the important role Erie's places of worship continue to play in the life and culture of the city.
Please Note: Participants should be capable of modest movement within the tour sites. Due to the distance between the 2 sites, we recomend driving from one site to the other, instead of walking. For arrival check-in at St. John the Baptist Church at 9:30AM with the tour beginning promptly at 10AM.
Location: St. John the Baptist Church - 509 E 26th St, Erie, PA 16504
Date/Time: Monday, July 28, 10AM-11:30AM
Admission: FREE
*If you do NOT receive a letter from gerlock@jeserie.org within 24-48 hours regarding your registration, please check your spam or junk folder. Thank you!
Michael DeSanctis, Ph.D.
Dr. Michael DeSanctis is a Professor of Fine Arts and Theology at Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, where he teaches courses in the history of art and architecture. He is the author of Building from Belief: Advance, Retreat and Compromise in the Remaking of Catholic Church Architecture (Liturgical Press, 2002) and Renewing the City of God: Catholic Architectural Reform in the United States (Liturgy Training Publications, 1994), as well as numerous popular and academic writings on the topic of contemporary Catholic Church architecture. He is a member of the Commission on Sacred Art and Architecture for Diocese of Erie and has established an international reputation for his work as a liturgical educator and design consultant.