Learn About Immanuel
Chapel's New Windows
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The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean's Commentary
Friday, January 5, 2018
It might be bitterly cold. It might be the season of the GOEs. It might be hard to get to work. But actually, today is a very exciting time on the campus. At 6am this morning a team of specialist installers arrived on the campus. Working in the darkness in the Chapel, three remarkable stained glass windows are being installed.
It was Robert Stern who suggested the stained glass specialist for our Chapel. The BBC had made two documentaries on this designer. He was the man who took stained glass out of churches and put it everywhere - in office buildings, shopping malls, and conference centers. He solicits commissions from around the world. His exhibitions attract considerable media interest. We were delighted when he accepted our commission. Brian Clarke was to be the designer for our windows.
Thanks to three generous donors, the windows have been designed. They are spectacular. The dove - almost moving at high speed - hovers over the baptismal font on the west wing; the oak leaves - representing the Father, the genesis of all that is - sits dignified in the north transept; and the parable of the sower from Canterbury Cathedral as it is refracted by the light onto the ground of the Cathedral represents the power of the Incarnation mediated to us through Canterbury to the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Hopefully later today you will be able to go into the Chapel and see the windows. Try and pick a sunny moment; and as you do so marvel at the great art and the gift it brings to worshippers for generations to come.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President
Virginia Theological Seminary
Friday, January 5, 2018
It might be bitterly cold. It might be the season of the GOEs. It might be hard to get to work. But actually, today is a very exciting time on the campus. At 6am this morning a team of specialist installers arrived on the campus. Working in the darkness in the Chapel, three remarkable stained glass windows are being installed.
It was Robert Stern who suggested the stained glass specialist for our Chapel. The BBC had made two documentaries on this designer. He was the man who took stained glass out of churches and put it everywhere - in office buildings, shopping malls, and conference centers. He solicits commissions from around the world. His exhibitions attract considerable media interest. We were delighted when he accepted our commission. Brian Clarke was to be the designer for our windows.
Thanks to three generous donors, the windows have been designed. They are spectacular. The dove - almost moving at high speed - hovers over the baptismal font on the west wing; the oak leaves - representing the Father, the genesis of all that is - sits dignified in the north transept; and the parable of the sower from Canterbury Cathedral as it is refracted by the light onto the ground of the Cathedral represents the power of the Incarnation mediated to us through Canterbury to the Episcopal Church in the United States.
Hopefully later today you will be able to go into the Chapel and see the windows. Try and pick a sunny moment; and as you do so marvel at the great art and the gift it brings to worshippers for generations to come.
The Very Rev. Ian S. Markham, Ph.D.
Dean and President
Virginia Theological Seminary