The Blijde Boodschap Church in Kerkrade looks different from the older churches nearby. This is not a building with a long sequence of medieval construction phases, but a distinctive design from the 1960s. Its large glass wall is central to the space.
The church was built in Rolduckerveld between 1963 and 1965. Part of the funding came from the community. On 19 September 1964, a commemorative stone was placed in the tower, with documents behind it about families who contributed. The neighbourhood’s history is literally inside the building.
A wall that shapes the light
The large stained-glass composition was the final design by Maastricht glass artist Jérôme Goffin. Its subject relates to the church’s name, meaning Good News, and the text about bringing that message. Stassen is also associated with the building’s glass art.
With glazing on this scale, light does more than reveal an interior. The glass colours the space and changes the relationship between walls, floor and furnishings. In photographs too, the wall becomes much more than a collection of windows.
The church was withdrawn from worship on 26 February 2012. That belongs to a wider change in religious life in the region. A building intended for a growing parish faced a different reality.
At the time of my original report, the building served as a concert venue. That use suited the large communal space in another way. For the photographs, what matters is the relationship between building, glass and furnishings when the series was made.
A church from the 1960s sometimes attracts less automatic attention than an older monument. That is precisely why this architecture is worth recording. Even a relatively young building can already represent a whole chapter of neighbourhood history.
Comments