The Story of the Stained Glass
If you’ve ever attended a wedding or funeral in Memorial Chapel, you can see physical evidence of Pastor Carl Burnham’s desire for a beautiful church to the glory of God and to the edification of believers. Built in 1954 when our church outgrew its home at Brown & Vine, The Chapel at Fir Hill was designed in a modified Romanesque style in a symmetrical plan shaped as a cross. Its heavy columns, high ceiling beams and arches remain today. The stained glass windows are a true treasure. More than beautiful, they’re visual representations that walk viewers through the Bible.
The building committee commissioned Russel Heizer of Westerville, Ohio to create the stained-glass windows using blenko bottle glass. Amber in the bottle-glass slabs was used to represent heavenly fire. The windows cover the entire church and tell the story of the Bible.
The sanctuary (the nave) has twelve windows on the north side depicting Old Testament events—Creation, Noah’s ark, Jacob’s ladder, the Ten Commandments, the tabernacle, Elijah’s chariot of fire, Psalm 23, Ezekiel’s living creature, Nebuchadnezzar’s image, Daniel in the lion’s den, and Jonah and the whale and the sun of righteousness. On the south side of the nave, windows show New Testament events and people, including the Word of God, John the Baptist, the star of Jacob, the feeding of the five thousand, the return of the Prodigal Son, the raising of Lazarus, John 14, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the three crosses of the crucifixion, the ascension and the gospel.
The south cross space, called a transept, now the Creative Arts Department, has three windows depicting the trinity of man (body, soul and spirit) and four windows representing the four major events in Christ’s life: his birth, crucifixion, resurrection and the second coming. The north transept, now in the Berean Room, has three windows depicting the Trinity of God. Eight additional windows represent scenes in heaven.
The three large windows over the church’s front door represent God’s glory beyond the sunset, and the rose window above the altar is facing East. The rose window in the Berean Room, facing north, was moved from the Brown and Vine Church. The windows were paid for by individual and group donations.
Pastor Burnham oversaw many building details personally and was the main contractor in the construction of the church. He and the building committee planned for the church to be for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church, and especially the windows, uses artistic craftsmanship as a witness to believer and unbeliever alike of the life changing truths of the Bible.