The first sanctuary of St. Mark at the Claymont location is now Fellowship Hall. The irony is that those of us who worship on Saturday nights are worshipping in it again.
The colored glass in the back and the front are almost obscured by the dropped ceiling that was later added.
The beautiful wooded and ceramic cross was recently added by a Saturday night worshipper who is a gifted potter.
But, when we started worshipping at St. Mark in the late 1970's, this was our sanctuary. Although I loved the pastors and the church community, there were several things I didn't like about this sanctuary. First, it was very dark illuminated only by panels of stained glass windows (see below) and overhead lights. It is currently used at the narthex for food and fellowship before and after worship---it is a wonderful use of the space!
Second, it did not have a center aisle and with daughters (2 and 5 at the time), I wanted them to have a wedding with a center aisle. By the time they were married, we had our third sanctuary which is the one we worship in on Sunday mornings.
In addition to a beautiful stained glass window, there were three triangular windows in the steeple which add natural light. As my family will attest, in the summer this window creates "hot spots". The girls (when seated in the choir) would watch as the sun would stream down on one lucky person causing him to sweat, take off his jacket, loosen his tie.
But, the stained glass in the window dominates the sanctuary. If you look carefully at the windows of the the narthex sanctuary, you can see that the style and colors of those windows inspired the new window. The new window is filled with symbols important to Christians.
Above is wheat, a fish and a nail.
This one also has green grapes in addition to the fish. These panels, by Emil Frei Studios also illustrate how the windows create pictures with different colored glass rather than the painting on glass which is the Munich-style.
My favorite photo in front of the window is Rachel and Kyle sharing a moment before their wedding. And, by the way, happy 10th Anniversary!
1 comment:
thanks!!! :) cool photo-history of the sanctuaries & glass windows!
p.s. with those 3 skylights at the top, you forgot to mention causing one to put on sunglasses. i swear i've seen a man do that! :D ha and it is so fun to watch the next victim in "the hotseat". :)
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