Saint Teresa Church - As

The Sint-Theresiakerk is the parish church of As, located on Kerkplein.

This neo-Gothic church , with a Greek cross as its basic shape, was designed by the Hasselt architect Joseph Deré. It was taken into use on January 13, 1932 , to replace the Sint-Aldegondiskerk, which had become too small. St. Teresa's Church was built just south of it on a plot of land called 'The Field of War' . After the consecration of the new church, the square was promptly renamed 'Kerkplein'.

The church is built of quarry stone (Weisserstein and Gileppe sandstone). The two different colored natural stone types form a geometric pattern. The tower was built between the choir and the north transept arm.

Most of the neo-Gothic furniture dates from the time of the construction period. The altars, confessionals and pulpit are made of French white stone and are decorated with mosaics. The high altar shows a mosaic reredos depicting scenes from the life of Therese of Lisieux . The monochrome murals depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments and the 14 Stations of the Cross are by Albert Huppen.

The painter Karel Theunissen, who was born in As, produced three paintings for the church in 1933: The Return of the Prodigal Son, The Baptism of Christ in the Jordan and Mary Magdalene under the Cross.

The limestone baptismal font (early 16th century) and the 17th century statue of Jesus on the cross come from the old Sint-Aldegondis church.

Willem Vandenameele