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August 2008 |
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Touring history through glass |
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Monday, 31 March 2008 |
 Lawrence Dietz takes photographs of the stained glass windows at Wapakoneta Community Worship Center on Sunday during the “Sacred Art and Architecture” tour. (Staff photo/ Kristin Reichardt)
By KRISTIN REICHARDT
Assistant Managing Editor
The fading afternoon sun hit the west wall of St. Joseph Catholic Church, illuminating the panes of the church’s stained glass windows into a series of jewel-colored storybooks as local women gaze on the face of Jesus.
St. Joseph Catholic Church parishioners Carol Roth and Jan McNeal were among several members of area churches who participated as tour guides in the “Sacred Art and Architecture of Wapakoneta” stained glass window tour, organized by the Auglaize County Historical Society as part of Wapakoneta’s 175th anniversary.
McNeal said the windows in all of the churches provide visuals of Christianity’s history, and events such as the tour are a way of bringing community members together to show respect for and interest in the different denominations.
“The stained glass windows tell a story,” McNeal said of the more than dozen windows at St. Joseph Catholic Church. “They were only put in because in generations past, people could not read, so they tell the story of our salvation.”
The tour opened local churches for four hours, including First English Lutheran Church, First United Methodist Church, Salem United Methodist Church, St. Joseph Catholic Church, St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, St. Paul United Church of Christ, the Wapakoneta Community Worship Center and the Auglaize County Historical Society (formerly First Presbyterian Church).
A tour pamphlet outlined historical points of interest about each church and the glass. Tidbits included how the windows in the First United Methodist Church, from back to front, tell a biblical historical journey from creation, through Christ’s resurrection to Pentecost.
Some of the churches’ windows tell stories of various saints, while others show symbols of the Christian faith, such as the dove above the altar at First English Lutheran Church.
Tour guide Jim Thompson said he appreciated the opportunity to open such old and historic buildings to the public collectively, since he thinks not many community members have time to tour the buildings individually.
A Wapakoneta Community Worship Center, formerly the Marantha Church Assembly of God, parishioner said the tour helps people to recognize the history present in the church buildings and understand from where they came.
“It is all beautiful,” Thompson said, gesturing to the three windows without stained glass on the opposite wall from the three windows with stained glass at the church at 210 W. Auglaize St.
While touring with her husband, Ron Kohler, First United Methodist Church member Sue Ellen Kohler said she noticed how the windows’ color schemes varied with when they were created.
The older churches seemed to include more browns, and various shades of brown, in the windows, while the more contemporary windows were more vibrant.
“I’m sure it has to do with the age of the windows and the artist who created the windows,” Kohler said. “They are all beautiful in their own right.”
As with others, Kohler appreciated the historical significant the windows provide locally, especially in light of the economic status of former parishioners.
“The tour helps me to understand that there were people of faith more than 100 years ago who believed that their faith would stand the test of time,” Kohler said. “These were poor agrarian farmers. Think how they sacrificed to create these.”
This part of history is important to continue passing through generations, she said.
“History and the stained glass is so beautiful in this town, and in every town,” Auglaize County Historical Society President Karen Dietz said as she sat in a pew at Wapakoneta Community Worship Center. “You go by it every day and I think people do not see it.”
Dietz said she enjoys how the area’s German heritage is reflected in the old-style windows, such as those in St. Joseph Catholic Church and the Auglaize County Historical Society building.
“Just think of the people who have sat in these pews,” Dietz said, adding that she hopes the tour gives those who participate a sense of thanksgiving for the people who established the city. “They have guided this town. We have grown because of them.
“Their faith has been a huge part of that,” she said. “I really think we need that firm foundation.”
The details present in the various stained glass windows gave Dietz a desire to learn more about their origins, she said, describing the hands in the windows at St. Joseph Catholic Church that look as if they are reaching out, and the faucetted pieces in the windows at St. Paul United Church of Christ and the Historical Society’s museum.
Dietz and Auglaize County Historical Society Administrator Rachel Barber said they were pleased with the public’s response to the tour.
“It is kind of a gray day but the windows look beautiful,” Barber said, adding that she appreciated how much effort each congregation put into hosting visitors. “It is nice to see people so proud of their churches. People love to show off where they go to church, and it’s nice. It’s sweet.” |
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 01 April 2008 )
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| | ...I love the "small town" charm and sense of community I feel when I run into my father at Community Market or my Mother-in-Law at Walmart or one of my sisters at the gas station! Tracy Anderson - Wapakoneta
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