Steve Ritz has a challenging job.

He uses a palette of concrete, brick, steel and glass to give people a sense of the divine.

“It’s also intriguing intellectually to use material textures and objects to describe an experience that is completely transcendental,” says Ritz, a licensed architect with GLPM Architects, 1001 N.H.

“What could one want that’s higher than that — to use a talent to try to help people experience this eternal mystery.”

Ritz, who earned a bachelor’s in architecture from Kansas University in 1991, has made a name for himself in ecclesiastical design.

Since becoming an architect, Ritz, who lives in Baldwin, has been involved in designing a wide variety of new structures, additions and renovations for 16 churches in Kansas and Missouri.

He has worked on 11 of those projects while at GLPM, which he joined in 1998, and five of them while employed from 1991 to 1998 by Devine Architects of Kansas City, Mo.

In the past 13 years, Ritz, working with other GLPM staff and church building committees, has designed sanctuaries, chapels, courtyards, meeting spaces, fellowship halls, rooms for scriptural study and religious education and offices for church administration.

Ritz, 53, figures that 95 percent of the projects he is working on are church related and that since he joined GLPM, the overall number of church-related projects the office is undertaking has risen sharply.

He knew early on that he wanted to specialize in ecclesiastical design projects.

Architect Steve Ritz has carved a niche for himself as a designer of sacred

“It was a desire of mine to do sacred space. When I came to GLPM, they asked me what would be my building type of choice. I said churches because I felt it was the best use of my talents, to be of service to the Lord that way,” Ritz says.

Spaces of beauty

Ritz-designed church projects have become increasingly common in northeast Kansas.

GLPM and Ritz have been hired to do work for congregations in Lawrence, Overland Park, Leawood, Lansing, Shawnee, Topeka and Lenexa.

They also have done projects for Missouri churches in Harrisonville, Lee’s Summit and Cameron, as well as for a congregation in Bethalto, Ill.

Before then, while Ritz was employed by Devine Architects, he did design work for a church in Mission and three congregations in Kansas City, Mo.

In Lawrence, Ritz has done a feasibility study for possible expansion plans at Immanuel Lutheran Church & University Student Center, 2104 W. 15th St.

But the best evidence of his work in Lawrence can be seen at Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt. Ritz served as lead designer and project manager in 1998-99 for a major addition to Plymouth and the renovation of the church’s north wing.

He designed a new building for religious education, a new chapel, a courtyard to be used as an outdoor gathering space and a transition area connecting Plymouth’s historic, 1870 sanctuary to the new structures.

The entrance to the church’s north wing, as well as its Mayflower Room, kitchen area and offices, also were extensively renovated. The $3.3 million project was completed in 2000.

“The challenge was to harmonize a complex that had previously exhibited three different architectural styles, part of which was not code compliant and didn’t meet current needs,” Ritz says.

“We had to think (about) historic compatibility in the aesthetic goal, as well as provide code compliance and functionality for the very active youth programs going on at Plymouth. Another driving force was to maintain a palette of form and color that reflected the 1870s model.”

According to the Rev. Peter Luckey, Plymouth’s senior pastor, Ritz and the GLPM team succeeded.

“Steve came up with a design that has been universally accepted (by church members). The major thing is that Plymouth’s people are so proud of the fact that the church’s two wings (north and south) incorporate the architectural themes of the 1870s,” Luckey says.

Luckey is impressed with Ritz, both as an architect and a person of faith.

Architect Steve Ritz walks in the courtyard he designed as an outdoor gathering space at Plymouth Congregational Church. A new chapel he designed is in background.

“Steve is a deeply spiritual, centered human being. Designing sacred spaces like Plymouth Church is more than a job for him. It’s a calling. He delights in designing spaces that lift our spirits, spaces of beauty that lead us toward God,” he says.

Praying for inspiration

Ritz is indeed a religious man. But, though he has designed many churches, he is not a Christian himself.

Ritz is a practicing devotee of Krishna Consciousness; his beliefs come from the ancient Vedic tradition of India that gave birth to Hinduism and Buddhism.

He practices vegetarianism, in the mood of compassion toward all living things, and consumes no intoxicants — coffee, alcohol or tobacco.

“I aspire to a life of simplicity in a world of such complex demands, in an attempt to come from a place of inner peace that I believe will make whatever service I offer (to God) more useful,” Ritz says.

His faith is considered a “science of God realization,” and he has been practicing it intensely for the past six to seven years. It influences his work as an architect.

“It forms the core of my inspirations, as well as the intentions of how I can best represent similar efforts of God realization (by those of other faiths),” Ritz says.

His job designing sacred space has proved to be a spiritual journey.

“This has been rewarding because, inevitably, I have seen the depth of true faith and sincerity in each of these groups that I’ve worked with. I especially appreciate prayers asking for guidance at each of the design meetings (with churches). I truly believe that this inspiration is a gift; it has to be asked for.”