Learning in Glass

Yesterday we had a meeting of our local denomination at Crestview Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati.  I had been there before to lead in worship a few years ago and I was struck then by the beauty of the stained glass.  But yesterday, I had an opportunity to really see the stained glass windows that surrounded the sanctuary.  (These windows originally came from another Presbyterian Church and were saved from demolition when they were brought to Crestview).  

I was drawn to each of them because they weren’t simply colors and shapes but in each there were so many symbols of the faith.  As I took them in, I was reminded of something that was shared in my seminary church history courses - that one of the purposes of stained glass in church buildings in the Middle Ages was to help teach the faith to those who were illiterate and people who did not have access to the stories of the Bible.  So instead, people could take in the stories through the images and the symbols in the windows that surrounded a sanctuary.  

There’s so much symbolism in these beautiful windows and they do truly tell the story of the faith.