Earlier this year, we were honored to assist in completing the liturgical environment at Christ the King Catholic Church in Kilgore, TX. The Very Reverend John Gomez joined the project towards the end of the new church building's construction and faced the challenge of finishing the liturgical interior on a very tight timeline. Our senior liturgical designer and studio collaborated closely with Father Gomez and his team to design liturgical furniture, optimize space usage, select flooring, and create an interior color scheme. The goal was to establish aesthetic harmony and transform the building into a meaningful Catholic environment.
We designed the new altar, ambo, tabernacle pedestal, baptismal font, ambry, and credence table in rich red oak, embellished with a wood-carved motif of a dogwood flower gilded in 23k gold leaf. The mensa, furniture tops, and twisted columns are all crafted from Italian Travertine marble. The delicate blossom, a symbol used throughout the building's stained glass windows, was incorporated into the furnishings to bring harmony to the space.
According to the Legend of the Dogwood, at the time of Christ’s crucifixion, the dogwood was a majestic tree whose strong branches were used to craft His cross. The tree was said to be so sorrowful about its cruel purpose that Jesus proclaimed never again would the dogwood grow large enough for it to be used in the same manner. Instead, its flowers would form the shape of a cross, with two long and two short petals surrounding the center of a crown of thorns stained with blood, serving as a perpetual reminder of Christ's sacrifice.
Our designers meticulously detailed the furnishings. The altar mensa is incised with five crosses representing the wounds of Christ and contains a concealed reliquary within the dogwood pattern. The tabernacle pedestal features carved lettering gilded in 23k gold leaf: “…but then an angel touched him and ordered him to get up and eat” (1 Kings 19:5). This reminds us that angels, our companions, care for us and point us to Christ for nourishment. The ambry displays a wood-carved coat of arms for the current Bishop of Tyler, Joseph Strickland.
US-based artisans completed the liturgical furnishings, carvings, and gilding, while the Travertine elements were imported from our Italian craftsmen.
The new church will be dedicated on August 31st.
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