Featured Windows, May 2003

First United Methodist Church Window

Building: First United Methodist Church of Dearborn

City: Dearborn

State: Michigan

The Wesley Window at First United Methodist Church honors three English family members who are significant in the history of Methodism.

At the top of the window is the Wesley family Coat of Arms (left). The central panel (right) portrays Susannah Wesley (1670-1742), the mother of John and Charles Wesley, with one of her daughters. Often referred to as the "Mother of Methodism," Susannah was the wife of a priest in the Church of England. She bore nineteen children, ten of which lived to adulthood. She taught all of her children to read, using the opening text from Genesis, "In the beginning, God," for their first reading lesson.

The panel on the left depicts John Wesley (1703-1791), theologian, evangelist and, with his brother Charles, a founder of Methodism. The flame above his head symbolizes both his childhood rescue from a burning parsonage and his description of himself as "a brand plucked out of the fire." The horse and rider below his figure refer to his ministry as an itinerant preacher who rode more than 250,000 miles for fifty-five years, reading and distributing books from his saddlebag. The globe under the central panel recalls Wesley's statement, "I look upon the world as my parish." The panel on the right depicts Charles Wesley (1707-1788), also a founder and minister of Methodism. The musical instrument and score below his figure symbolize his role as a musician and composer of hundreds of hymns, many of which are still sung today.

First United Methodist Church of Dearborn has a long history reaching back to the early 1800s. The present English Gothic stone building, first constructed in 1926, has been enlarged several times. Its stained glass windows, made by the George L. Payne Studios of Patterson, New Jersey, were added from 1963 to 1972.

First United Methodist Church of Dearborn was registered in the Michigan Stained Glass Census by Donald Sigman of Plymouth.

(MSGC 1997.0116)

Text by Betty MacDowell, Michigan Stained Glass Census, May , 2003.