Objectives of the Steeple Project

I have two objectives in creating this blog:  

I.  To maintain an informal catalog of some of my favorite architectural features: the STEEPLES and CAMPANILES (or BELL TOWERS) of Rhode Island and southern Massachusetts.  

Here's a classic example at left: the bell tower of St. Ann's Church on Russo Street in Providence, near where Branch Ave and Charles St intersect.  I see this lofty tower from Rt 146; it's like a guiding light when I'm driving after dark.

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II. My second objective is a more philosophical/sociological effort: 

To note recent changes in the local church - particularly the closing of some local churches, the merging of some congregations, new designs of ecclesiastical architecture, and new patterns in which communities of faith choose to gather together - any of which might lead to the vanishing steeple of today's horizon.  It's also worth reflecting on how these changes are impacting our culture.

[Unless a specific source is cited, these observations are my own, as are the photographs.]