Wired Word Lesson of the Week
Topic for Sunday, March 8, 2026:
Sagrada Familia Church Hits Construction Milestone: After more than a century of construction, the Sagrada Familia Church in Spain has reached an important milestone with the placing of a cross on its highest tower. This week’s class will focus on the value of building for future generations, having faith in God's future, and showing sacrifice and commitment in the family and in the Christian community.
In the News
Individuals are encouraged to read the news below related to this topic before the March 8th bible study to be prepared for an engaging conversation:
The Sagrada Familia Church in Barcelona, Spain, has been under construction for 144 years. When the cornerstone was put in place, Chester A. Arthur was president of the United States and Queen Victoria was the monarch of England. For all that time, Sagrada Familia has been wrapped in scaffolding and cranes, and workers have been trying to carry forward the vision of its architect Antoni Gaudi, born in 1852.
Sagrada Familia (which means "Holy Family," referring to Jesus, Mary and Joseph) is a basilica -- a large oblong church building that has been given special privileges by the pope. Sagrada Familia reached its maximum height on Friday, February 20, when a crane placed the upper arm of a cross on the top of the Tower of Jesus Christ. This tower is the soaring central piece of the church, standing 566 feet above the city of Barcelona.
According to The Associated Press, the first stone of Sagrada Familia was placed in 1882, but Gaudí never expected it to be completed in his lifetime. Only one of its multiple towers was finished when he was hit by a tram and died in 1926, at the age of 73. Still, his vision for the basilica, which combines Christian symbolism with organic forms, has endured. In recent decades, the church has become a major international tourist attraction, and it now stands as the tallest church building in the world.
The Tower of Jesus Christ will be inaugurated this summer, when the scaffolding surrounding the tower will be removed. A line from a traditional Christian hymn has been installed at the base of the cross: "You alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High." Placing the cross on this central tower in the year 2026 has been a goal for the builders, as they prepare to mark the 100th anniversary of Gaudi's death this June.
According to Gaudi's plans, the cross has four arms so that its shape can be recognized from any direction. His original plan included a light beam shining from each of the cross's arms, symbolizing the church's role as a spiritual lighthouse. The installation of the lights will be completed if Barcelona's city government allows it.
Sagrada Familia is now taller than Ulmer Münster in southern Germany, a Gothic Lutheran church that stands 530 feet. Construction on Ulmer Münster started in 1377 and was built over the course of more than 500 years.
Gaudi's church dominates the Barcelona skyline as much as the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Empire State Building in New York. "For decades it was a building site open to the skies," reports The Guardian, "It's only in the past 15 years ... that it has felt more like a church than a building site." Sagrada Familia is Barcelona's top tourist attraction, with about five million visitors a year and an annual income of roughly $177 million, about half of which is spent on construction. The church is not funded by any government or Roman Catholic Church sources, but solely by donations and tourist fees.
Visitors admire Gaudi's geometrical designs in the interior, which include tree-like columns tapering off to the roof. TWW Team Member John Coulson says, "My wife and I visited Sagrada Familia this past summer. We probably took close to a thousand pictures. ... The way that he used light through the stained glass windows is amazing. There is so much symbolism designed into the entire structure. Every stone seems to have been placed to say something."
While many people love Sagrada Familia, others despise it. George Orwell described it as "one of the most hideous buildings in the world," and he regretted that Spanish anti-clerical anarchists did not blow it up in the early 20th century. The anarchists did, however, destroy Gaudí's drawings and his plaster model of Sagrada Familia. Years later, the model was reconstructed, and then, in the 1970s, a New Zealand architect named Mark Burry used rocket design software to bring Gaudí's design to life. Burry realized that Gaudi's geometry was so precise that the building would collapse if there was any deviation from his plan.
Sagrada Familia reflects Gaudi's vision, but it is the work of many hands. The Passion façade -- popularly known as the Darth Vader façade -- is the work of the sculptor Josep Maria Subirachs. Three other artists -- Miquel Barceló, Cristina Iglesias and Javier Marín -- have been invited to present designs for the Glory façade, which is expected to take another 10 years to complete.
More on this story can be found at this link: