In Litomyšl, a new church with an avant-garde appearance is set to be built

Litomyšl (Svitavy) - A new church will be built in Litomyšl in the Svitavy region. The Church of Brethren plans to construct it on land that will be provided by the city. The impetus for the construction of the church building is the inadequate existing prayer room, the pastor of the Church of Brethren, Daniel Smetana, informed reporters today.
    "Our current prayer room on Nádražní Street became insufficient in capacity two years ago and also does not meet hygiene standards. At the same time, we are seeing an increase in believers. One of the solutions was to extend the prayer room at the back and side, but that was a constructionally problematic and costly matter, so after careful consideration, we began to consider building on a green field," said Smetana.
    The new church is to be located by road I/35 on the right-hand side towards Svitavy, between the traffic light intersection and the road to Čistá. The city management has promised to transfer the land free of charge, provided that the appearance of the building is acceptable for Litomyšl. The new prayer room is planned to have a hall for about 150 people, two multi-purpose clubrooms, and a social vestibule with facilities. The second floor is to house the pastor's apartment. According to Smetana, the new building will also serve the general public.
    The avant-garde appearance of the building does not resemble traditional churches; it does not have any tower, and the church purpose of the building is evident from the cross placed on the overhang of the roof. The glazed, segmented structure will be embedded in a green slope; the multi-level roof will resemble a winding path or a broken ramp. According to Smetana, it symbolically represents the path of faith, and the architects based their work on the biblical motto "God, your mercy reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds." Outside, the walls are designed with painted concrete, wire glass, and fine mesh, while the interior aims to create a pleasant homely environment using masonry constructions and wooden and stone finishes. The Church of Brethren wants to secure approximately ten million crowns through the sale of the current prayer room building, from collections, or possibly from donations from foundations and funds. The church could be completed in 2009.
    The Church of Brethren in the Czech Republic has built new churches and prayer rooms in recent years, for example, in Nové Město nad Metují in the Náchod region, in Poděbrady in the Nymburk region, and in Pardubice. In the Pardubice region, Catholic believers in Třemošnice in the Chrudim region also want to build a new church based on a design by actor and architect David Vávra.
    New churches have been created in the Pardubice region only exceptionally in the last 17 years. Since 2003, a modern evangelical church has been serving believers in Letohrad in the Orlickoústecký region. The parish house of the Czech Evangelical Church is unique in that it is the first post-revolution evangelical building in the Czech Republic. A year later, the ecumenical Church of God's Love in Budislav in the Svitavy region was consecrated.
    It is atypical with its heart-shaped floor plan and an interior dominated by a view of the surrounding nature. It was created as an ecumenical building that will be used not only by various churches but also by the community. The construction of the sacred object began in the mid-1990s by a civic association supported by a private entrepreneur. When they were unable to secure funding for its completion, they handed over the building at a symbolic price to the municipality, which completed the church with financial support from the Pardubice region.