After staring at Immanuel's windows I wanted to know more.
Stained glass making is a stunning art form. I do not know much about it, but I appreciate the experience of gazing at stained glass. In the context of stained glass church sanctuary windows, when sunlight illuminates the translucent panes, the embedded pigments glow, creating a brilliant portal to expand our imaginations in worship.
One day, while Barb, our church musician, and I were planning and practicing worship music in the sanctuary, the sunshine outside created brilliant colors all around. I took pictures and paid attention to their details. I recalled from a church history class I took years ago that stained glass windows were the storybooks of the church. Before the printing press and a literate general population, stained glass sanctuary windows were art forms of Bible stories, creeds, and religious beliefs.
Although Immanuel’s sanctuary windows are not full-blown Bible stories in art form, there is a sacred story in colors and design.
During my research, I discovered that the installation of Immanuel's stained glass windows was significant in our church's history. From 1988 to 1994, this project marked a new chapter for our 108-year-old church. The decision to update the century-old frosted-pane windows was a collective one, with the women's fellowship ministry taking the lead. The original frosted-pane windows still grace the entry to the sanctuary basement from the east side of the church, a testament to our rich history.
Before the stained glass installation, here's a peek at the sanctuary's interior from Jack and Mary's wedding:
The green altar curtain covered a frosted white window that was later replaced with a stained glass altar window of the holy cross at the front of Immanuel’s sanctuary, which has become her trademark. The story of the altar window begins in San Antonio, Texas. A member of Immanuel had visited The Little Church at La Villita along the Riverwalk. The Little Church’s stained glass altar window inspired the design for Immanuel’s altar window.
Immanuel's altar window on the left and The Little Church at La Villita's window on the right:
The Little Church at La Villita was built in 1879, just one year before Immanuel in 1880. It was an Episcopal congregation with a Gothic revival, stone-quarried building in a poor San Antonio district. The early ministry of The Little Church birthed a trade school for black and brown women who were freed from slavery. That little trade school grew to become St Phillips College, which is still going strong in San Antonio today. St Phillips College has never turned away anyone who has applied for their college.
In time the Little Church fell into disrepair and was purchased by San Antonio in 1945. It was purchased again in 1956 to become a non-denominational church widely known for feeding the poor and boasting a terrific starving artists' venue. Today they have added a wedding venue to their ministries.
I could not find background info on the origins of The Little Church’s altar window. Immanuel took inspiration from it, no matter its origins, and created their own identity. Adding a dove above the cross symbolized the importance of the Holy Spirit. The focal eye in the center of the cross is more pronounced and represents the eye of God on the people.
The use of color when expressing Christian art and stories is significant. Blue, red, golden-yellow, green, and purple are the colors primary to Christian art. Blue represents hope. Remember paintings where blue robes are draped around Mary or Jesus? They carry hope for us. Red represents action, spiritual awakening, or the Holy Spirit. Think of the action of suffering or the Holy Spirit's fire at Pentecost. Golden-yellow represents a place or presence of the divine, like heaven or the use of halos in paintings. Green symbolizes freedom, life, and fertility, representing times of spiritual growth. Purple is used to convey repentance and sorrow, as well as the power and authority of leaders.
Can we see these colors in Immanuel’s windows? What are the windows speaking to us?
Knowing the meaning of color in a religious context, when I gaze at the windows, they are mostly golden-yellow, a visual reminder that we are in God’s divine presence in this sanctuary. The red and blue borders wrap us in the reminder of God’s active work of salvation, the Holy Spirit, and great hope.
And then, there are these green and purple enigmas I have never seen in any other Christian art. These are placed in the center panes of the sanctuary windows. Each has three forward-folded green leaves with three purple-shadowed leaves. In the center is a small red circle.
The strong use of repeating threes is a strong allusion to the Trinity: God our Father and Mother, God in Jesus, our brother, and God in the Holy Spirit. The shape is inspired by a trillium, triquetra, or Irish knot. The little red circle evokes action to the meaning of the green and purple colors.
The enigma is similar to the shape of a person. I imagine the green glass as a head with arms wrapped around its precious soul. Could the enigma be us, the worshippers, immersed in God's sanctuary as the Trinity actively ministers to each of us? The small red dot could represent our souls ablaze with the Holy Spirit, while the purple and green evoke living repentant lives and experiencing spiritual growth. You may recall that each window has a small red dot at the intersections of the center seam. These single red dots could further represent each soul in God's sanctuary ablaze with Holy Spirit fire.
Immanuel has a rose window above the red, double exterior sanctuary doors. It is difficult to see from outside the building, and the best view is hidden inside the first level of the bell tower. A round rose window represents eternity in a circle with no beginning or end. Rose windows are high, lifting our eyes up toward heavenly places. Immanuel’s rose window wraps Christians in hope that they will rise into eternal heaven.
As a finishing touch, the sanctuary lights and sconces were updated to match the artwork of the surrounding windows, and protective exterior covers were placed over the windows.
Love for God, care of Immanuel's building, and sharing resources went into the stained glass project at Immanuel. The message it communicates reminds worshippers inside the building of their high calling and relationship with God. The windows encourage those with a view from outside to come in to see and experience the holy.
These windows tell the story.
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