North of historic Saint Augustine, Saint John Paul II Catholic Church hearkens to its missionary roots near the oldest establishment of Christianity in the United States. A masterplan that includes a cathedral-sized church, an Evangelization Center, an existing Early Childhood Education Center, and a variety of outdoor chapels and shrines parsed throughout the Floridian palms invites people to ponder their spirituality while building a stronger local community. Simple architectural forms and humble native materials such as stone, wood, and plaster connect the natural and the built to create a seamless sequence of spaces from outdoor, to indoor, and back to outdoor again.
The Auditorium and Evangelization Center support the church’s missionary goals by reaching not only local parishioners, but those all over the world through podcasts and streaming talks. The church building, reminiscent of the old Spanish missions throughout the New World, is the heart of the site and culminates with a large Adoration Chapel.
