Tag Archives: Stained glass

Nativity scene in stained glass

History

Post 1 DSCN0118 East Kirk, left light Nativity scene Nov. 2013

Christmas is the time at which we celebrate the birth of Jesus. A well-known Christmas hymn puts its meaning thus: “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see”. This is central to the belief of Christians, so it is not surprising that the nativity features in many stained glass windows in churches. To start this series, we show part of the left-hand window in the apse of the former East Kirk. In the central panel, we see Mary with the baby Jesus and the star light pointing to them. In the left hand panel are the shepherds and some of their sheep whilst in the right hand panel are three kings, who had been guided by the star, bringing their gifts. All this takes place under the thatched roof of the stable. This window and the one at the opposite side of the apse were designed by Gordon Webster and installed in 1961. The son of the artist is Robin Webster who became Head of the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture. When OpenSpace is complete, this window will be part of a meeting room and so will be easy to see.

 

The Flight to Egypt window

History,

Post 2 Flight to Egypt window before repair, SMC North AislePost 2 Flight to Egypt Window, SMC North Aisle

How many Christmas cards have you had this year featuring the ‘three wise men’? The story of these enigmatic visitors, in St Matthew’s Gospel, is familiar. However, what follows straight afterwards in the gospel account is not mentioned so often. The story is shown in one of the windows in St Mary’s Chapel. The left hand scene is of an angel telling Joseph, shown with his carpenter’s tools, to escape with Jesus and Mary to Egypt. The right hand window shows the family in Egypt, complete with hieroglyphs in the background. Meanwhile, back in the neighbourhood of Bethlehem, Herod was slaughtering all the young boys to ensure they could not be a threat to his power.

 

The window was donated by Margaret Cooper, the widow of Dr Cooper who was minister of the church in 1898, the last time St Mary’s Chapel was restored. It was designed and installed by Marjorie Kemp in 1950. Unfortunately it suffered vandalism. Part of Phase 1 of the Mither Kirk Project was to repair all the glass. In this case, that was quite a challenge. One of the photographs shows the ‘window’ as it was before the work – the right hand light consisted of some bits of broken glass in a black plastic bag! The other photograph shows the window as it now is, fully restored to its original beauty.

 

It is a sobering to think of our world today. How many are killed so that they are not a threat? How many families have been refugees this Christmas?