Milwaukee filmmakers explore the blend of faith, design in 'Secrets of Sacred Architecture'
Steve Boettcher and Mike Trinklein are best known for their profiles of TV giants in productions like "Pioneers of Primetime" and this year's "Betty White: A Celebration."
But since they were kids, the Milwaukee filmmaking partners have had another fascination: churches and other religious buildings.
“I remember sitting in church and kind of looking around and trying to understand what the artifacts meant," Boettcher said.
“One of the things that’s universally true is that both churches and filmmaking have something in common — that you’re trying to tell a visual story,” said Trinklein, who added that the pair at one time thought about being architects. “I think it’s that fascination with the storytelling that church buildings do. They’re just really an interesting way in which communities try to communicate.”
The pair combined both interests in their latest project, "Secrets of Sacred Architecture," which airs on 360 public television stations around the country in April.
Narrated by LeVar Burton, the one-hour documentary explores the connections between churches, synagogues, mosques and temples and the communities that build them.
"The central purpose that unites all sacred architecture is that the goal is to communicate," Burton says in the film's narration. "Every steeple, every stained-glass window, every parking lot is sending a message to the membership and to the community."
Milwaukee churches play featured role
Although the filmmakers traveled all over the world for "Secrets of Sacred Architecture," southeast Wisconsin's houses of worship have a prominent role in the project.
In addition to images of such local landmarks as Holy Hill, Gesu Church and St. Paul's Episcopal Church, it gives extended looks at two of Milwaukee's most notable churches.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church is, the film points out, is a poured concrete dome on top of a bowl, with the bowl representing God's hand holding the congregation. No parishioner is more than 60 feet from the altar, a design inspired by the Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul.
More: Here's a look at seven 19th-century church buildings in the Milwaukee suburbs.
St. Josaphat Basilica also gets a cameo in "Secrets of Sacred Architecture," including a snippet of a performance by the Milwaukee Symphony and Chorus of Handl's "Messiah" in the gold-domed landmark. The program recounts the story of the basilica's construction, when, hard-pressed to come up with the money, they hit on the idea of purchasing a demolished Chicago post office and using the material, from the stone to the doorknobs, to build the church.
"I think it's a great national story to bring to people," Boettcher said. "We are resourceful Milwaukeeans; we find a way to take a building and rebuild it."
Lambeau Field and other sacred spaces
For centuries, Boettcher said, houses of worship were designed to inspire awe. No wonder people find themselves whispering when they go into a church.
"It's an amazing transformation that happens when you leave this world and enter that sacred building," he said.
Examining religious buildings across denominations, Trinklein said, underscores the importance people place on sacred spaces.
"There's a natural, inborn part of us that wants to create these sacred places," he said. "One example of our modern community is Lambeau Field. It's a sacred space — there's even statues of the saints."
Power of megachurch design
"Secrets of Sacred Architecture" doesn't just dwell in the past. The program also looks at the designs of contemporary megachurches as a sign of the evolution of our relationship to religious spaces. Instead of trying to evoke awe, they echo more comforting and comfortable spaces — like shopping malls.
"You go to some of the bigger churches … and they have climbing walls and they have rec centers and they have all these activities, and you think that's odd" at first, Trinklein said. "But it's really not odd at all, because churches were always gathering places for the community."
Still, "they were designed to communicate a connection with something bigger."
Having faith in LeVar Burton
Making a connection with Burton proved a stroke of serendipity.
Boettcher said that the "Roots" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star and "Reading Rainbow" host has a longstanding tie to public television, but they were unaware of his connections to the subject of their program: Before he decided to study acting, Burton was studying for the priesthood.
"When we approached him about this idea," he was, like, 'Oh, I understand this completely. This is in my wheelhouse. I know this topic so well,'" Boettcher said. "It was kind of a natural fit for us."
Whatever the denomination, a house of worship is a reflection of the community it serves, from the quirky gargoyles of the Washington National Cathedral (including one that looks like Darth Vader) to the stained-glass illustrations of Black life at Trinity United Church of Christ, former President Barack Obama's church in Chicago.
“The idea is to recognize that these sacred buildings are talking to" us, Trinklein said. "They are saying something to you, and they have always been designed to say something to you, whether it’s that giant steeple or whether it’s the very familiar look of a megachurch. They’re trying to talk to you. And I’m just trying to awaken people to the conversation.”
When and where to watch
"Secrets of Sacred Architecture" is showing at 8 p.m. April 11 on WMTV-TV (Channel 36), at 6 p.m. April 17 on PBS World (in Milwaukee, on Channel 36.2), and at 8 p.m. April 18 on WMVS-TV (Channel 10) and on Wisconsin Public Television stations across the state.
Contact Chris Foran at chris.foran@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @cforan12.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee filmmakers share 'Secrets of Sacred Architecture'
