Stained glass of fcc
The Chancel Window
The major points of the window reflect the New Testament teachings of the blood sacrifice, the cleansing water, and the presence of God. The peak of the window signifies the opening veil reminding us that the presence of God is no longer confined to the temple.
In the uppermost center panel is also found a chalice, from which flows a strand of Jesus' blood into the shape of the cross, symbolic of the actual cleansing from all unrighteousness.
The blue areas are “rivers of living water” as well as reflecting baptismal water representing repentance and forgiveness, and continued renewal.
The browns represent the earth, and the greens the growth and life on earth.
Photo by the Rev. Dr. David Chisham
Splitting the Veil
In the Old Covenant, which God began with Abraham and delineated through Moses, there was the altar of sacrifice and a laver for the washing of the high priest before he could enter the Holy of Holies. Not a drop of blood could be on the priest as he came into the perfect presence of God because the blood had the sins of people on it, even if it required the loss of an innocent animal’s life.
The Lord spoke to Moses, “You shall make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. You shall put it between the tent of meeting and the altar, and you shall put water in it; with the water Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet. When they go into the tent of meeting or when they come near the altar to minister to make an offering by fire to the Lord, they shall wash with water, so that they may not die. They shall wash their hands and their feet, so that they may not die: it shall be a perpetual ordinance for them, for him and for his descendants throughout their generations.” (Exodus 30:17-21)
If the sacrifice was acceptable, the glory of God fell into the Tent of the Presence which was separated from the people by only a curtain or veil. When Jesus died, His blood contained all the sins of the world. So acceptable to God was this sacrifice that the curtain in the temple was torn apart and God’s glory, or the Holy Spirit, was then free to all who would repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins.
In the design, the peak of the window is the opening veil which signifies that the presence of God was no longer confined to the temple. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? (1 Corinthians 6:19)
