The Stained Glass Windows on the West Wall
Minute for Grace #5 March 2, 2014
Today’s Minute for Grace is focused on the glorious
windows on the West Wall of the Church. When the church
was constructed in 1928, the stained glass on the South,
North, and West walls was installed as part of the
construction. If you take a minute to look at the windows,
you will see just how much wall space they take up and will
understand how they were intended to have the functional
purpose of providing light for the sanctuary during the day.
However, they also have a stunning aesthetic quality. They
are works of art that depict aspects of our faith. As well,
they serve as memorial tributes to church families from
threads of this congregation worshipping and working for
God from 1882 onward. The persons mentioned on these
panels were individuals who made very significant
contributions to the establishment of places of worship in
the city as well as to the development of the city itself.
The windows are described architecturally as Gothic style,
which we can see in the pointed arches and the height. The
Gothic church was intended to create a setting in which
light and purity in the design was thought to be an image of
heaven.
In the Central Panel we see Jesus standing beneath rays of
light and a dove. In the Bible God is described as Pure
Light, Jesus has called himself, The Light of the World. We
are requested to walk in this Light. In Scripture and in
much of classical art, a descending dove depicts the Holy
Spirit. Under Jesus are the words I AM THE WAY THE
TRUTH AND THE LIFE. Above Him on two banners is the
scripture COME UNTO ME ALL YE WHO LABOUR AND ARE
HEAVY LADEN AND I WILL GIVE YOU REST. Interestingly,
the quote begins and ends on the lower banner with the
middle of the quote written on the top banner. All three
panels on the West Wall have the phase To the Memory of
Our Noble Pioneers written on them but it is more
predominant in the central panel. The central panel is
dedicated to the memory of James M. and Margaret Fry,
Pioneers of Saskatoon 1892 – 1921 and to Ray Charles
Samuel Fry, Doctor of Divinity and Missionary to Japan
1876 – 1896.
If you look at the panel on the left, you will see an Open
Bible and the inscription THE WORD IS TRUTH. Toward
the bottom of the window you will see the Greek letter
Alpha, symbolizing God as the Beginning. The dedication of
this panel is to Harry and Mrs. Smith, David and Mrs. Lusk,
and to Grace Fletcher. After Grace’s name is the phrase
WHOSE NAME THIS CHURCH BEARS. You may remember
that Grace Fletcher’s story was the Minute for Grace last
month.
The right or north panel on the West wall has a depiction of
the Ten Commandments and the inscription GOD SPAKE
THESE WORDS. We also see the Greek letter Omega on the
right panel symbolizing THE END. This balances the letter
Alpha on the left panel – the two letters reflecting a
scriptural description of God and symbolizing
completeness. The north panel is dedicated to the memory
of Thomas Johnson 1845 – 1911 by Mrs. Johnson and
family.
The windows were supplied by Robert McCausland
Company Limited in Toronto. McCausland is still in
business today. It is the oldest stained glass manufacturing
company in the Western Hemisphere and has been in
active business since 1856. You can Google the company if
you wish. We do not know how much the windows on the
three main exterior walls of the church cost. What we do
know is that, in the main, they were paid for by families
and individuals who made memorial donations. The only
recorded name associated with an amount of money is that
of Mrs. Keeler who paid $125.00 for a panel. By 1930, two
years after the installation, the church still owed $605.00
on the windows. Three years later in 1933 the total owing
was $180.00. At that time, the church borrowed the
balance owing from the bank and cleared the account with
McCausland. Although the exact current value of the
windows is not known, it is likely within the tens of
thousands of dollars for these three panels alone.
We urge you to take time to examine our stained glass
treasures more closely than you may have done in the past.
It will be a time of blessing.