Native Church Research Articles

Migration crisis and the church: A response to lacunae and considerations for Christian ministry engagement

This article critically assesses some theological-ecclesiological responses and approaches to migration challenges in order to ascertain lacunae within Christian ministry engagement. Although other academic disciplines such economics, politics, geography, demography, sociology, psychology, law, history, anthropology and environmental studies shape the discourse of migration, theology boarders the migration debate as if it does not have anything to offer. However, this does not necessarily mean there are no existing theological-ecclesiological responses and approaches to migration challenges. Thus, this article proceeds to categorise the theological-ecclesiological responses to migration challenges into four approaches: (1) the approach that focuses on practical responses from pastoral care that is limited to particular social contexts, (2) the approach of theological motif and ministry praxis from narrow and single biblical texts, (3) the response that focuses on Israel as a paradigm of how the native churches and hosting nations should treat migrants and (4) a systematic approach which focuses on doctrinal formulations that respond to migration challenges. In considering these positions but moving beyond them in response to migration challenges, this article exposes a theological debate and agenda for migration ministry. In doing so, this article identifies some lacunae for further exploration in Christian migration ministry engagement. It concludes by underscoring the need for a meaningful and responsive theology that shapes the discourse of migration, as well as the formulation of operative ecclesiological responses. This article thus contends and paves the way for theological research to become central to migration studies in a manner that demonstrates that theology transcends spiritual reflection to include practical psycho-social, emotional, economic and other dimensions. The contribution of this article lies in its examination of the existing theological-ecclesiological responses and approaches to migration challenges and therefore identifying gaps in theology of migration that can be placed in the theological agenda.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: This article outlines theological research agenda for theology and migration ministry. It considers migration theological gaps from a systematic theological and missiological nexus, and as such it is a theological interdisciplinary article integrating systematic and missions. The article contributes to mapping a theological research agenda for the topical issue of migration and refugees in order to develop and inform church ministry designs.

Advanced numerical insight into the structural damage of masonry vaults under seismic excitation: two valuable case studies

Most recent earthquakes have demonstrated the high seismic vulnerability of monumental masonry buildings and, specifically, critical issues associated with complex structural elements like vaults. The main purpose of this paper is the analysis of how quadripartite vaults behave under horizontal loads and what their role is in the global seismic behaviour of historical constructions. The analysis is dealt with by referring to two different case studies: the Narthex of the Nativity Church in Bethlehem and the Fornasini tower in the North East of Italy. By means of ABAQUS, a proper finite elements model is implemented in order to assess the global structural behaviour of the structures. To this purpose, the seismic behaviour is directly evaluated thorough non-linear dynamic analyses and the obtained crack patterns are discussed thoroughly. A Concrete Damage Plasticity (CDP) constitutive model is used to properly account for damage phenomena and softening occurring on masonry during an earthquake.

Phase Composition and Porosity Structure of Ceramic Bricks More Than 100 Years Old: Catholic Church, Iverskiy Monastery, and Church of the Nativity in Samara Oblast

X-ray phase analysis and IR spectroscopy have been used to show the strength properties of ceramic serving for more than 100 years in buildings of a Roman-Catholic church, the Iverskiy monastery, and the Church of the Nativity. Moreover, the presence of pores of isometric form and oval closed porosity in the experimental samples of brick from these buildings also promotes greater longevity

Стиль росписей основного объема церкви Рождества Богородицы в Бетании и их место в грузинской и византийской живописи середины — 2-й половины XII в.

Стиль росписей основного объема церкви Рождества Богородицы в Бетании и их место в грузинской и византийской живописи середины — 2-й половины XII в.

The intricacies of the church life in St. Petersburg time of Empress Anna Ioannovna. The history of the construction of the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God

The article deals a few episodes of the 18th century St. Petersburg church history through an analysis of documents on the history of the construction of three churches of the Nativity of the Mother of God. The first of these churches was to be built on Vasil’evsky Island, where Peter the Great had planned to move the center of the capital. The earliest documentary evidence about the beginning of realization of ideas of Peter dates from 1723. On the basis of written sources the article traces the sequence of events from the choice of construction site until the end of the construction of church. It clarifies the reasons for changing the name of the church, consecrated in the year 1732 not in honor of the Nativity of the Mother of God, but in honor of the Apostle Andrew. Community wooden Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God of the Petersburg Island initiated the construction of a new stone church. The construction site was chosen near the old church, but the building has not begun. Monetary fund accumulated for the construction of this church was confiscated by the Empress Anna Ioannovna and spent on the creation of the third church of the same name, built in the year 1737 on Nevsky Prospect. History of the design and construction of churches has been reviewed in the context of church life in St. Petersburg in the first half of the 18th century. Many of the archival documents are used for the first time.

Old Restorations and New Discoveries in the Nativity Church, Bethlehem

Since 2010 the Nativity Church in Bethlehem underwent a number of significant restoration works, including the refurbishing of the wooden roof, the consolidation of the Armenian door, and, starting from March 2015, the cleaning and consolidation of the mosaic surfaces. This recent work lead to important discoveries, including the recovery of the figure of an angel which had been hidden under the plastering during the restoration made in 1842. The present article describes and comments on the newly discovered and cleaned portions of mosaics and describes the history of the alterations underwent by them and by their architectural setting since the Crusader period up to our days.

Palestine: Case Study: The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Palestine: Case Study: The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Photographing “the Nucleus of the Native Church” at Poonindie Mission, South Australia

The Anglican Church in Australia actively commissioned photographic portraits of its indigenous congregation as part of a program of documenting and promoting its work. Poonindie mission, the Anglican Church's “Christian village,” established in 1850 on the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, represented an idealistic experiment. Its first few years were seemingly crowned with success when eleven young indigenous residents were baptized by Bishop Short and Archdeacon Hale in February 1853. For their supporters, the gentlemanly demeanor of the converts revealed their essential humanity and capacity, demonstrated by photographic portraits commissioned during this period that are structured by a distinctive vision of Aboriginal converts: unlike other Australian missions and reserves, at Poonindie “the nucleus of the native Church” was defined in distinctively classed terms that showed them as equals. A narrative of redemption was expressed through an exceptionally high-quality series of images. During the late nineteenth century, Poonindie's increasingly disputed existence was defended by missionaries who continued to assert its worth through visual evidence. These remarkable photographic portraits remain a testament to a generation of indigenous people struggling to survive the first decades of colonization and dispossession and are now valued by descendants as family portraits.

L’Albero di Iesse nel XII secolo fra Occidente e Oriente: note sul perduto mosaico della basilica della Natività a Betlemme

The Tree of Jesse, a depiction of Christ's genealogy based on the prophecy of Isaiah (11, 1-2) and on the Gospel of Matthew (1, 1-17), was one of the subjects of the mosaic decoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, accomplished in 1169. The work has been entirely destroyed, but it is attested in the counter-facade by Late Medieval and Modern sources. On the basis of this evidence, this paper suggests a reflection both on the iconographic model of the biblical theme, probably of Western origin, and its hypothetical formal features, most likely in line with the Byzantine style of the mosaics which are still visible in the basilica. A tentative reconstruction drawing of the biblical theme completes the analysis.

Reflections on the reconstruction of the Constantine Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Since the excavations carried out in the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem by the British Department of Antiquities in Palestine in 1927 and during the 1930s, it has become clear that the current day building is not the church commissioned by the Emperor’s mother, Helena, which the so-called Pilgrim of Bordeaux saw as early as 333 AD, but rather the more recent structure erected in the late 5th century or even the 6th century. Unfortunately, the archaeological research in the eastern part of the church could only be carried out in its northern half; the church has been an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2012. The documentation in the reports of the walls and remains of the floor discovered during the excavation is often imprecise, so that many questions with regard to the reconstruction of the Constantine basilica remain unanswered. An atrium lays to the west of the five-aisled basilica. Compared to today’s building, the Constantinian basilica was around one bay shorter. A reconstruction of the part of the building over the Grotto of the Nativity is difficult. The excavated walls and the remains of the mosaic floor lead one to believe that a towering octagonal building was located here, at the centre of which an octagonal raised platform with steps and a round opening was situated, allowing a view of the Grotto of the Nativity below. This reconstruction is widely accepted today and has found its way into the reference books of early Christian architecture. So the Constantine Church of the Nativity is considered to be the earliest example of the combination of basilica and central-plan buildings in early Christian churches. B. Bagatti had doubts about this reconstruction back in 1952 and suggested a polygonal apse as an alternative to the eastern terminal. When a model of the Church of the Nativity was produced for the Constantine exhibition held in Trier in 2007, the excavation documentation was examined and numerous irregularities were discovered, so as to question the existence of an octagonal tower-like structure. A sanctuary with a three-sided apse solves this problem however. Both of the narrow walls, which run angled along to the nave, are actually choir screens, which strikingly framed the holy domain with the raised platform. The connection of the sanctuary, with its side rooms onto the basilica section of the Church of the Nativity, which had galleries over its side aisles, can be realised without any problems, too. The towering octagon, which from the exterior seemed to stand alone, was not actually a feature of the Constantine Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

Porušena crkva Rođenja Blažene Djevice Marije u Silbi

Već otprije je bio poznat podatak da se godine 1828. u Silbi porušila stara crkva Rođenja B.D. Marije kako bi se dobivenim građevinskim materijalom dovršila prekinuta gradnja nove župne crkve koja naslijeđuje i njen titular. Prema arhivskim podacima rušenje je dozvolio zadarski nadbiskup Josip Nowak i odredio da se do izgradnje nove crkve kao župna koristi nekadašnja franjevačka Gospe od Karmela. Od čitavog je sklopa do danas sačuvan tek zvonik koji je ostao služiti novoj župnoj crkvi. Prema shematiziranim tlocrtu i dimenzijama porušene crkve, dokumentiranima u danas zagubljenom spisu iz župnog arhiva, razvidno je da se radilo o jednobrodnoj longitudinalnoj crkvi s pravokutnom, od lađe užom sakristijom na začelju, dvjema plitkim kapelama dograđenima uz pobočne zidove, te otvorenim predvorjem (ložom) duž pročelja koje se svojim južnim uglom oslanjalo na ugao zvonika. Crkvena je dvorana osim glavnog oltara prislonjenog uz začelje lađe imala tri para pobočnih oltara. Analiza apostolskih i kanonskih vizitacija crkve, prvi puta spomenute 1579. godine, pokazuje da je još u drugoj četvrtini 17. stoljeća ona bila skromna građevina u kojoj se, radi udaljenosti tadašnje župne crkve sv. Marka od naselja, čuva ulje za bolesničko pomazanje. Ipak, crkva je tada imala pet pobočnih oltara koje podižu ugledniji pojedinci i laičke bratovštine od kojih se isticala ona Gospe od Ružarija po kojoj se i crkva tijekom 18. stoljeća pučki nazivala. Na temelju analize zapisa vizitacije nadbiskupa Evanđeliste Parzaghija iz 1670. godine, zaključuje se da je crkva netom prije njegova pohoda pregrađena, dok se prilikom opisa pojedinih oltara navodi da su u ovoj obnovi mijenjali poziciju. Godine 1678. prvi se put spominje zvonik – kampanel.Komparativnom analizom može se ustvrditi da je crkva Male Gospe u Silbi svojom tipologijom pripadala brojnoj skupini jednostavnih, prostranih, ali prema građevnim oblicima ruralnih crkava, kakve tijekom 17. i 18. stoljeća u seoskim sredinama duž istočnojadranske obale podižu pučki majstori. Njihovu djelatnost na otoku potvrđuju kako suvremene matične knjige, tako i spomenici – prikazi zidarskih i klesarskih alata na nadgrobnoj ploči u crkvi sv. Marka te na nadvratniku kuće majstora Franića Lorencina iz 1660. godine. Analiza katastarskih i topografskih nacrta iz 1824. i 1833. godine pokazuje da južni zid crkve istočno od prigrađene kapele Gospe od Ružarija zasebnim usmijerenjem odstupa od pravca ostalog dijela zida, što upućuje na zaključak da je ovaj dio strukture pripadao ranijem, po svemu sudeći srednjovjekovnom sloju građevine koja bi pregradnjom, dokumentiranoj u vizitaciji iz 1670. godine, bila proširena i produžena prema zapadu. Ovu mogućnost, koju bi trebala potvrditi neka buduća arheološka istraživanja lokaliteta, osnažuje učestalost takvih pregradnji na primjerima crkava XVII. i XVIII. stoljeća na otoku Ugljanu, a posebno situacija na tipološki analognom primjeru crkve sv. Lovre u Lukoranu na istom otoku iz 1632. godine.Otvorena predvorja također su osobitost ovih crkava, s tom razlikom da su na hrvatskom priobalju karakteristične upravo za područja Istre i Kvarnera kojemu otok Silba i zemljopisno gravitira. Silbenska je „lopica“ bila specifično izduženog tlocrta te je na pročelju imala dva simetrična niza od po tri nosača s aksijalnim glavnim ulazom u trijem, odnosno crkvu. Radi neposredne prijetnje od upada turskih gusara trijem vjerojatno nije bio prigrađen prije kraja 17. stoljeća kada ove prijetnje prestaju. Naime, toranj zvonika zasigurno je korišten kao obrambena kula, kojoj bi takva prigradnja umanjivala fortifikacijski značaj i vizualnu kontrolu ulaza u crkvu.Uvidom u arhitektonsku strukturu zvonika zapažena su dva različita građevna sloja od kojih starijem pripada trup zvonika, dok se drugi odnosi na strukturu piramide osovljene na plitkom kvadratnom tamburu. Trup zvonika u svojem izvornom obliku zatvorenog je volumena s po jednim lučno zaključenim otvorom u središtu stranica dvaju završnih katova kojih stilski nedefinirana morfologija karakterizira skromnije zvonike od kraja 16. do 18. stoljeća na ovom području. Nekadašnja je piramida 1858. godine radi trošnosti uklonjena te je izgrađena sadašnja s ovalnim otvorima po sredini svake stranice tambura u njenom podnožju. Ova je struktura gotovo identična vršnom dijelu zvonika crkve Gospe od Ružarija u Preku na otoku Ugljanu podignutom 1844. godine.Na temelju arhivskih podataka u radu se utvrđuje da je radikalno preslikana pala glavnog oltara sadašnje župne crkve - „Bogordica s Djetetom, sv. Markom i sv. Matejem“ - u svom ostakljenom dijelu izvorno sadržavala brojne zavjetne darove, te da joj je prilikom umetanja u nišu mramornog retabla Ćirila M. Ivekovića iz 1898. godine skraćen format čime su uklonjeni dijelovi s ostala dva evanđelista. Prema sačuvanom ugovoru i nacrtu donji je dio oltara 1860. godine podigao vodnjanski altarist Giovanni dalla Zonca, a na njemu su bili postavljeni i do danas sačuvani drveni kipovi sv. Petra i Pavla koji prema stilskim karakteristikama datiraju iz sredine 17. stoljeća. Zaključuje se da su čašćena slika i kipovi preneseni s glavnog oltara porušene crkve.

"The Pest:" The Rev. James Settee and the Church Missionary Society in Nineteenth-Century Rupert's Land - A Case Study of Native Church Policy and Indigenous Missionary

"The Pest:" The Rev. James Settee and the Church Missionary Society in Nineteenth-Century Rupert's Land - A Case Study of Native Church Policy and Indigenous Missionary

The kingdom of God is here and now: Protestant eschatology, in the context of postmodernism (B.Maklaren and R.Bell)

For modern Protestant theology there is a keen interest in eschatology, which, however, is interpreted not so much as the classical theological doctrine of the completion of history, which includes the theme of the church's takeover, the second coming of Christ and the millennial kingdom, as a teleological doctrine, focused on the questions of the final destination of reality, the achievement the world of its eternal purpose. Taking into account the fact that in modern Ukrainian religious studies there is a lack of works devoted to the study of the transformation of eschatology in postmodern theology, the actual and timely implementation of the religious analysis of the process of rethinking the traditional Protestant eschatological dominant in the work of the main promoters of the new eschatological paradigm appears. So, the purpose of this article is to investigate the specifics of postmodernist readings of Protestant eschatology on the example of the emerging church, the theological and ecclesiological movement, which openly proclaimed its goal of adapting Christianity to epistemological and socio-cultural shifts of the postmodern period. Despite its short history, the movement has penetrated into numerous native church communities, theological schools and paratroopers, mostly in North America and the UK, to a lesser extent in other parts of the world (Australia, New Zealand, Continental Europe).

THE CHURCH AS A PROTECTOR: ANTI-CHRISTIAN CASES AND RESOURCE CONFLICTS IN POST-BOXER CHAOZHOU

This article examines the role of Western missionaries and Chinese Christians as new powerbrokers in the competitive arena of rural politics in South China during the post-Boxer decade (1900–10). Focusing on four well-documented lawsuits involving Christians in the Chaozhou-speaking region of Guangdong province, this study shows that the power relationship between Christians and non-Christians had undergone a qualitative change since 1901. The crushing of the Boxers increased the prestige of Western missions and Chinese churches on the land, and it was this prestige that made it possible for native Church leaders to use the judicial process to effect changes in their favor and to enforce settlement agreements at the county courts. Litigation became an important tool of unifying and empowering rural Christian communities. These case studies not only provide insight into the local management of treaty rights and foreign affairs but also highlight the instrumental role of the churches in China during a time of rapid and profound change.

Victorian Poets, Politics, and Networks: Response

Response Linda H. Peterson (bio) How did Victorian poets and their poetry engage in contemporary debates about pressing social, religious, and political questions? The 2012 conference theme, “Networks,” encouraged poetry specialists to consider the periodical and publishing contexts that featured verse commentary on contemporary issues; the social networks that led poets to develop—or reject—positions taken by fellow writers; and the literary transformations that occurred as verse moved among poets, between continents, and from one publishing venue to another. This emphasis on poetry as embedded in history and, even more, as attempting to alter the course of history signals a notable shift in scholarly attitudes over the past fifty years. When the original editors of the Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals set their criteria for inclusion, they omitted poetry—a decision they believed “readily defensible.” Partly, the defense was practical, citing the sheer quantity of periodical verse they would need to index (over 7,000 items). Mostly, it was evaluative: “To have included verse would have added an enormous number of worthless items to Part A [the title index] and a large number of obscure authors to be identified and then described in Part B [the author index]” (Houghton, Introduction xvi).1 This editorial decision, as Linda K. Hughes has noted, presumed a predominance of sentimental verse in newspapers and magazines and an “association of poetry with ‘filler’” (92). It failed to account for major poems first published in periodicals and for the significance of occasional verse in which poets engaged the questions of their day. Even more, it presumed that prose, however well or poorly written, was the medium for contending with serious social and political issues, whereas poetry was for expressing feelings or offering secondary commentary. All three papers in this cluster take a different view of poetry and political engagement. Alison Chapman’s “Poetry, Network, Nation” [End Page 309] demonstrates how British and American expatriate poets in Italy used periodical verse to endorse Italian Unification (Risorgimento). Concentrating on three women—Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Isa Blagden, and Theodosia Garrow Trollope—who “placed themselves at the center of nation making,” Chapman argues that they “predicated their writing identities on a political poetics that . . . circulated by a complex European and transatlantic print and manuscript culture” (275). What the Wellesley editors might have deemed “filler” verse in The Tuscan Athenaeum—Garrow’s “Aurora Rugiadosa: Lines on Gibson’s recently finished statue of Aurora” (1848)—Chapman reads not just as praise of Gibson’s “forward-moving statue” but, more importantly, as a contribution to Italian political revolution. In ekphrastically (re)creating a “feminized angel of the Second Coming” (282), Garrow used poetry to trumpet the cause and link herself with other liberal, pro-Risorgimento artists. Gibson’s sculpture and Garrow’s “Aurora Rugiadosa” became, in turn, sources for Barrett Browning’s Aurora Leigh, an iconic woman poet expressing her own literary and political agency. While we may today remember only Aurora Leigh (1856), the verse novel that crowns Barrett Browning’s career, Chapman recovers the culture of print, sociability, and politics of which it is a part and thereby enriches our understanding of the literary networks through which women poets worked for political change. Kirstie Blair’s “Transatlantic Tractarians” takes up a different issue in a transnational exchange: the state of High Church Anglicanism in Britain and North America. Oxford Movement writers felt themselves beleaguered at home, disillusioned with the state of the English Church, yet hopeful about possibilities across the Atlantic. In the British Critic of 1839, Newman lamented: “the rest of the Church, either caring nothing for us, or accounting it a point of charity to wish us dead, and the State intruding its well-meant but unamiable blandishments, it is pleasant to look across the western wave, and discern a friendly star breathing peace and shedding benison” (312). Poet-priests of the American Episcopal Church responded to such transatlantic appeals by expressing “honour [to] their nursing mother” but also by asserting the vitality of their native church “in all the vigour of youth, adapting itself to a fresh state of society” (Coxe, Christian Ballads viii). Thus, while American poets learned from their British counterparts, they also produced new...

From the Church of the Nativity to the Churches of the World: Palestinian Christians and Their “Cry of Hope”

Palestinian Christians came together in 2009 to write a common statement exposing their theological perspective and formulating their hope for the future. The result of their work was published as a Kairos document, modeled after the 1985 South African Kairos. Such documents belong to a specific genre of Christian writings that seek to formulate a response to situations of oppression. Due to the delicate nature of the conflict in Israel-Palestine, the Palestinian Kairos received mixed reviews. This essay critically examines its claims and offers a reading that emphasizes its potential for a theology of peace and nonviolence. The Palestinian Kairos opens new doors to rethink the relationship between Christianity and social justice and provides a language to address oppression that stands outside the dynamic of blame and accusation.

La datación dendrocronológica en el estudio de los edificios históricos

This article addresses the discipline of dendrochronology and, especially, one of its most useful aspects for the study, restoration and appreciation of architectonic heritage: dating. In its pages it deals with the origin, foundations and principles of this technique, the requisites for its application, the different ways of obtaining samples, the use of statistics and the various difficulties, limitations and aspects of dating. Finally, it touches upon the ­field of dendroprovenance, that is, the technique used to discover the geographic origin of timber by means of concrete examples of works performed by the authors, such as the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine.

The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem: Non-destructive tests for the structural knowledge

Abstract This paper deals with the activities performed within an integrated knowledge plan finalized to the restoration design of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Palestine. A multipurpose and interdisciplinary research work was carried out, which is a representative example and benchmark for the methodological approach concerning conservation and restoration of monuments and historical sites. According to the work plan of the project, seven coordinate research teams worked on the same site in different or partially overlapping periods. Their activity concerned historical researches, laser scanning survey, non-destructive tests on masonry structures, inspections and tests on roof timber structures, identification of structural damage, analysis of plasters and mosaics. The mutual interchange of information and data, as well as the integrated and interrelated work allowed to achieving an accurate and reliable diagnosis of the construction, which was the basis for the restoration design. This paper describes some results of the in situ testing performed by the Benecon Group of the Second University of Naples (Italy), focused on the acquisition of all the data needed for evaluating the static safety of the whole Church. Sonic and ultrasonic pulse velocity testing, surface penetrating radar test, infrared thermography analysis, fiberscope inspection, laboratory tests on masonry cores and mortar specimens, temperature and moisture measures were performed as complementary methods. The paper describes the equipment and testing arrangement and the main results and outcomes that allowed to assessing the structure safety and drawing recommendations for the restoration of the Church and for the conservation management plan.

Structural assessments of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem

Abstract This paper presents a number of estimates of the structural vulnerability of Bethlehem's Nativity Church. Due to a lack of appropriate maintenance of the Church's roof over an extended period of time, a copious infiltration of rainwater caused serious damage to the structure's main elements. A damage survey was carried out for the main walls and grotto, in order to assess their structural vulnerability. The survey was backed by the results of a number of non-destructive tests and of the appropriate numerical analyses.

The conservation of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and the preliminary restoration project of the decorated surfaces

Abstract The studies developed by the team of the School of Specialization in Architectural Heritage and Landscape of “Sapienza” University of Rome, that initially concerned the entire Basilica to be then focused on the main nave, on the aisles, on the transept and bema. At the architectural scale, the investigations concerning mosaics, mural paintings and coloring are aimed to the comprehension of the complicated relation between the single analyzed part and the architectural complex. The “reading” of the current state of the Basilica, i.e. the historical events that made it as we can see today, is the starting point for the necessary critical considerations to start the restoration project.