2 o’clock. Snake and chalice. John, the brother of James the Greater, the son of Zebedee and Salome, and known also as one of the sons of thunder. Tradition holds that John was the one apostle to live to an old age and not die a martyr’s death. John is […]
1 o’clock. Traveler’s staff and scallop shell. James the Greater, brother of John. The scallop shell was used for collecting drinking water, so the staff and shell are used here to represent someone who was on the road. Sometimes a sword and scallop shell is used for James. Note on […]
Twelve vines with fruit flow out from the central Cup of Christ symbol to the outer twelve symbols in the window. The vines call to mind Jesus’ statement: “I Am the True Vine”. The red backdrop (red dots in the figure) behind each of the twelve outer symbols also […]
In the center of the All Saints Episcopal Church window is the Cup of Christ. We see a chalice and wafer against a red backdrop. It would be possible to read this element as a reference to Holy Communion. Because of the overall context of the window and the red […]
The All Saints Episcopal Church window is beautiful. This mandala incorporates lesser known Christian Symbols. Careful research went into the creation of this window. The line drawing I’ve included shows the overall structure of the window. There are twelve symbols around a central symbol. The outer twelve symbols often refer […]
A quick review before we begin. Symbols are a shared visual language in a culture. As we have seen in the previous stained glass windows, Christians also have a unique set of symbols which serve us as a common language. For Christians, the beauty of Christian Symbolism is that it […]
I have an upcoming class called Parables in Glass. In the class I will unpack the stories embedded in Circular Stained Glass windows from Churches around the world. Churches and chapels will include: Pacific Lutheran University, Boston University, Stanford University, European locations […]
This mandala is from Eastminster Presbyterian Church, Dallas, Texas. Though this is a modern building, their stained glass window is an excellent example of a Christian Mandala. It also has one unusual feature that I have not seen in other stained glass windows. At a high level the window […]
The Northwest Ministry Conference is almost here. I love the energy that comes out of a gathering like this. Meeting others, exchanging ideas, and sharing experiences. The Northwest is a unique area for the Church. So we are busy putting together sample curriculum to give away as well as some […]
The initial drawings for this image were done by yet another member of our small group. The drawings came from Jesus’ I AM statement: “I am the true vine.” Again, I’ve cleaned one of the drawings up and added color to get to the image you see. One is struck […]
