Your Catholic Neighbor: Steve Schloeder
Designing beautiful churches
By Joyce Coronel, The Catholic Sun
July 19, 2007
Steve Schloeder wants Catholics to have beautiful places where they can worship God.
His dream was to design church buildings that “bring people closer to God and help them understand who they are, who God is, and what the Mass is about.” It’s a dream that has come true for the successful young architect and Ss. Simon and Jude parishioner.
He’s worked on at least 20 church buildings in his career and one of them, St. Therese in Collinsville, Okla., was the site of his wedding Mass in 2005. A large, framed photo of Schloeder and his wife, Trish, standing in front of the impressive church is on display in his living room. That’s where he does much of his work, tapping away on a laptop and surrounded by shelf upon shelf of books.
Schloeder was born in New York but moved to Arizona at age 7. He graduated from Arcadia High School in Phoenix and then went on to study architecture at Arizona State University in the early 1980s.
When he was 22 he came under the influence of a local priest, Fr. Frank Larkin.
“He took me through Vatican II and the document on the vocation of the laity that says lay people are called to renew the temporal order and infuse it with the spirit of Christ. He challenged me to find out what that meant for me as an architect.”
It was during these college years that Schloeder felt the tug on his heart to live his Catholic faith in a vibrant and dynamic way. Active at the All Saints Newman Center as well as the covenant community known as City of the Lord in Tempe, he sincerely tried to discern God’s will for his life.
After graduating from ASU with a bachelor’s degree in architecture in 1984, Schloeder received a Rotary scholarship to pursue a master’s degree at the University of Bath in England. Back in the United States following his European adventure, he worked for several national and international architectural firms and had a hand in designing some of the interior of Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.
That’s when Schloeder tried to start an architectural consulting business serving Catholic churches, an enterprise that entailed making lots of phone calls and sending fliers.
“I never got a single request for my services,” he notes wryly. “I said, ‘OK Lord, I’m not going to market myself, I’m going to put everything in Your hands.’”
Clearly, God was looking out for him, because soon after Schloeder’s surrender to providence, people began asking him to write articles about architecture and Catholicism. Those articles opened the door for him to design buildings. After 10 years, his book, “Architecture in Communion” was published by Ignatius Press.
The book was a hit and he received a scholarship to continue his studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, where he received a doctorate in theology in 2003.
Turns out God made an awesome financial advisor for the young scholar, too.
“While I was pursuing my doctorate, I didn’t have architectural work, and when I had architectural work, I never had class work, so they never conflicted. I graduated with no debt.”
A visit to the Web site for Schloeder’s firm, www.LiturgicalEnvirons.com, is an enjoyable photographic tour of some of his many projects throughout the country. Visitors will also find a quote from highly regarded Catholic priest and author Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, who boldly proclaims that “Everyone involved in the building or restoration of churches should read ‘Architecture in Communion.’”
Apparently, a lot of people have, because Schloeder’s got church projects underway from Alaska to Florida and a lot of other states as well.
What projects are you currently involved in?
I’m working on a monastery in Tonopah for the Poor Clare Sisters of Perpetual Adoration. We just completed the schematic design and they’re in the fundraising stage.
How does your faith affect your work?
I think it was because of applying my architectural skills to the question of church architecture that I really began to understand what Catholic sacramentality means. It’s through the material things that we come to God.
How does your work build your faith?
One way that it builds my faith is I get to travel the country and see a lot of parishes. My clients are all priests and building committee members who want beautiful and meaningful churches. They’re looking for beautiful art and beautiful places to worship God. That builds my faith quite a bit. It validates the Catholic view that the physical world is important.
If you could meet one person, living or dead, who would it be?
I’ve met the ones I wanted to meet, John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger. Pope Benedict XVI gave my wife and me a blessing after we were married. But if I could, I’d want to meet G.K. Chesterton.
What’s your favorite book?
“Brideshead Revisited,” the great novel of the 20th century. It’s about conversion and an aristocratic family in England and how God works in their lives.
What’s your favorite movie?
“The Godfather,” because it’s pure art and it tells a great story.
