Stained Glass: First Presbyterian (2 of 2)

A past post began the tour of the stained glass windows of the First Presybterian Church.

The most impressive windows in the church, however, are four large and identical rose windows, one on each of the four walls.

An explanatory text at the rear of the church explains the story of the windows. It quotes a story from the Rensselaer Republican of August 13, 2000.

First Presbyterian Church was built in 1896 with four huge rose windows of plain amber glass which as temporary and to be replaced with ornate glass. It took 104 years until somebody replaced the temporary glass.... Bill [Woodworth] worked more than 1000 hours over 4 1/2 months to complete the first rose window despite back and eyesight problems. The rose window contained more than 1,800 differently shaped pieces.... The first rose stained glass (on the south side) was dedicated 6-25-2000.

The second window was installed in June, 2001. The third was not completed and installed until January 2005. The final window, on the north side, ws dedicated on September 18, 2005.

The symbolism in the windows is explained as follows. The three circles in the center represent the Trinity. The twelve petal panels represent the Last Supper when the twelve disciples gathered. The four point stars represent the Star of Bethlehem. Blue signifies hope, sincerity, and purity. Purple signifies God the Father. Red signifies the death of Jesus. "Gold signifies halo of the saints, the Shekinah of God's glory that seeks to pour through all creation." (Look it up.) Violet represents love and truth and amber represents God's house, where all are given freely hope, blessing, forgiveness, and new life.

There is one more window, the miracles of Jesus, installed in April of 2007