Featured Window

Our Lady of Grace, Dearborn Heights, Michigan

Click any image to enlarge.

MSGC : Collections : Window

Window

Building Name: Grace United Methodist Church

Studio Name: Willet Hauser Architectural Glass

City: Britton

Window Shape: 2 (rectangle)

Date of Window: 1971

Subject/Title of Window: Pentecost

Brief Description of Subject: From a letter from The Willet Stained Glass Studios:
The Willet Studios here presents lumieres of faceted windows designed for Grace United Methodist Church. The nave aisles give a synopsis of Old and New Testament illustrated with rather abstract symbolism.

After His ascension into heaven, His followers met in an upper room on the feast of Pentecost. They felt the Holy Spirit descend with a sound like a mighty rushing wind and tongues of flame seemed to illumine each countenance. Above the flames is the descending dove of the Holy Spirit. The ship with a cross-topped mast is the Church, kept afloat through the stormy seas of history; schism, heresy and persecutions, by the power of the cross.

Faceted glass windows are made by one of the new techniques appropriate to the more contemporary styles of architecture. Brilliantly colored glass, usually an inch in thickness, but up to two or more inches for special effects, is cut to the desired size. The inner surface of certain pieces is then chipped or faceted conchoidally to enhance the design and add a jewel-like quality. The matrix of epoxy, a synthetic resin, is poured around the carefully arranged piece of glass, and holds them in place to form a structural unit of great strength. It is the thickness of the glass which assures the breathtaking rediance and complete purity of color which are the outstanding characteristics of the medium.

From an unidentified church source:
Our stained glass windows were made by the Willet Studios of Philadelphia. The same company that Mr. Ray Herrick had do the windows at Adrain College Chapel. Faceted Lumineries - Faceted Glass - an inch or up to two inches or more thick. Chipped or faceted to enhance the design. A matrix of epoxy is poured around the carefully arranged pieces to hold them in place, to form a structural unit of great strength.

Our sixth window the one nearest the choir loft is called the Pentecost window. After His ascension into heaven, His followers met in an upper room on the feast of Pentecost. They felt the Holy Spirit descend with a sound like a might rushing wind and tongues of flame seemed to illumine each contenance. In the upper part of the window you can see the tongues of flame and above the flame is the descending dove of the Holy Spirit. In the lower part of the window we see a ship with a cross toppped mast. This is the church, kept afloat through the stormy  seas of history, schisms, heresy and persecutions, bu the power ot the cross. Pentecost, the seventh Sunday after Easter, or 50 days after Jesus' resurrection commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and at that moment the Christian Church was born. Mark 6:9-19. Acts 2:1-21. John 20:19

Type of Glass and Technique: Slab or Faceted Glass (Dalle de Verre)

The MSGC is a constantly evolving database. Not all the data that has been collected by volunteers has been sorted and entered. Not every building has been completely documented.

All images in the Index are either born-digital photographs of windows or buildings or are scans of slides, prints, or other published sources. These images have been provided by volunteers and the quality of the material varies widely.

If you have any questions, additions or corrections, or think you can provide better images and are willing to share them, please contact donald20@msu.edu