Some time
ago, the Methodist Church in Kilsyth asked me to evaluate a circular window
from their old church.
The congregation
had decided that they needed to sell the too-large, too-drafty church building so
they could build a new one more suited to their purposes. They now wanted to make use of the glass they
had been able to preserve from the original building.
We went
through several possibilities ranging from refurbishing the round window and
placing it on the wall; the use of the three colours to create a cross-like
design in each of three windows on the uphill side of the new building and such
like. Each was an attempt to keep the
costs as low as possible.
Further discussion
within the congregation and between the property committee and me led to a more
ambitious project. It became clear that
one of the objectives of the new building was to be open to the community in a
variety of ways. They also wanted the
Methodist Church in Scotland symbol represented and, of course, the cross. From the discussions, I suggested one of the
windows should represent an open door. I
presented some sketches of how the existing glass could be used and combined
with new glass to achieve the results.
The
congregation considered these and came up with a modified set of images which I
worked on. These modifications were
agreed, and I began building the panels for installation against the existing double-glazed
windows.
Installation
was not difficult, as the windows are not high in the walls.
The congregation
is pleased with the result and so am I.
 |
| The complete installation |
 |
| The image in the central window, using streaky glass for the colour and the existing glass for the background. |
 |
| The right window image using flashed and acid etched blue and red glass. Streaky and original glass form the background. |
 |
| The open door image in the left window using streaky, painted and stained glass together with the original glass. |
