Midterm- Churches

For my midterm I was asked to go off campus and find a place a worship that I was inspired to write about. The church I found is called the Trinity Moravian Church. I am particularly intrigued by the stain glass windows. On the sides of the church there are stain glass windows that depict Christ and biblical figures/scenes, these windows just contain patterns. There is nothing particularly religious about these windows they just look pretty. The whole time I was looking at these in person I was trying to figure out why. Usually patterned windows are saved for small windows up high or the patterns encase the religious figures. When the light hit these windows it looked beautiful. Every color was spread across myself and the ground before me. And that’s when it hit me. The light shining there was heavenly and that’s what the purpose is. The windows show such brilliant and beautiful patterns and colors to symbolize God and his gifts and wonders. I wish I could have gone inside but no one was there. When the light shines into the church it must cast all of those colors on the congregation and look magnificent. This made me think back to other churches that might have the same patterns but no religious figures stained glass windows. After thinking about it when I got back to my dorm I remembered my grandmother’s church. It’s another small church, a presbyterian church. It has windows much like the ones shown here; there is only one window, at the alter, that depicts Christ and other biblical figures as well as angels. The other stained glass windows are all patterned and let in mellow sunlight and sparkling colors of the rainbow and spread them throughout the congregation. It’s almost as if when the light shines on the people inside it’s God peaking in to watch. That church always gives me such a safe and warm feeling and I bet the light has a lot to do with it. If they were regular windows or stained glass without patterns, it wouldn’t shine the same way. I like the idea that even though there are no religious figures present on these windows, it is an implied presence that can be seen and felt (the warmth) when the sun shines through.