“Why These Windows Matter”
by Sarah Roberson Yates
What follows was originally written as a talk that I was invited to give to the congregation of the Salem Presbyterian Church shortly before the church windows were renovated. As I said that day, saving the windows was going to take serious work and a significant investment of resources. Fortunately, the congregation has taken seriously its stewardship of these beautiful windows, and the ancient messages that are still fresh today.
I have not rewritten this talk, except for changing the introduction and a few minor details. My talk in the sanctuary of the church in which I grew up was deeply personal, and I decided to keep that feeling, rather than turn this into one that’s more academic.
MOTHER’S TALK
I know that my mother gave a talk on these windows several years ago. When I was preparing what I’d say, Julia Dyer asked me if I was going to give the same speech – I know a lot of you probably remember her talk.
Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find her paper. I’m quite certain she talked with great feeling about the church in the era when these windows were purchased, and the folks who donated them, because she was active in the church back then and she knew everyone whose name appears on one of the plaques.
But I don’t – and with a few exceptions – neither do many of you.
A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP
Today, we’re called to have a different relationship with these windows. In my opinion, they are the most beautiful church windows in Salem, certainly, but they’re also among the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.
CHURCHES IN NEW ENGLAND
If you’ve been to churches in New England, you probably realized that many churches there have clear windows. Now, the colonists imported a great many products from England and Europe, and some outstanding artisans were among the early settlers, so those clear windows were a choice our ancestors made.
That’s because those ever-cheerful Puritans distrusted rich adornments. And colored windows were adornments.
THE PROCESS OF MAKING GLASS
We know that the Egyptians had figured out how to make glass by about 400 B.C. We don’t have a clue how they figured out that if you mixed sand in the right proportions with alkali and then applied heat, you’d end up with glass. At first, the process was regarded as a mystery, and it was a secret known only to a very select band of craftsmen.
THE PROCESS OF MAKING STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
By the 10th century AD, artisans had figured out how to create whole windows constructed from a mosaic of colored glass. We know that because a Catholic monk named Theophilus recorded detailed instructions on how to construct a stained glass window using pieces of colored glass with lead supports, or “came.” The process he described has changed little over time.
As church architecture got bigger, glass artisans began making more elaborate windows. You can see the highest form of the art in European cathedrals that were built in the Middle Ages.
OUR WINDOWS
In one sense, I guess our windows are no match for those fabulously intricate stained glass windows from a cathedral. But in a very real sense – they suit us better.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES – PRESBYTERIANS IN SALEM
Before I really start talking about the windows – just a little historical perspective about Presbyterians in Salem. The first congregation formed in 1816 – that’s also the year Indiana became the 19th state to enter the Union – just 10 years after Merriweather Lewis and William Clark returned from their momentous journey to map the great and unknown lands of north west territory.
In that time, Indiana was at the edge of the western frontier. It was, quite literally, the West.
The building we’re in today wasn’t the first meeting place for Presbyterians in Salem – when the congregation first formed, they met in the court house – and when the congregation built its first church, that was located on the East side of High Street at what was then the extreme North end of the town, probably no more than a couple of blocks from here.
The congregation apparently didn’t like the commute, so they elected to move closer to the square – and that’s where this building comes in.
WORK ON THIS BUILDING
Work on this building was begun in 1839 – so, what was happening in America then? The nation didn’t even have its Northern and Southern borders defined; yet we were on an inexorable march toward Civil War because the issue of slavery was slicing deeper divisions between North and South. The nation’s first spontaneous liberation movement – the Underground Railroad – was aiding escaping slaves from the American South reach freedom in Canada, and Presbyterians throughout southern Indiana played pivotal roles in that movement. Martin Van Buren was President, and the nation was in the grip of a deep economic Depression. So building this church was an act of faith right from the beginning.
NOW FOR THE WINDOWS
Those tell you something about the times, so let’s turn now to the windows. First stop – their architecture.
The style of window is called a Gothic arch – the Gothic Revival was a movement in American architecture that ran from about 1840 – 1880 – and it mimicked the style of building you find in Europe that was built in the Medieval period – in other words, the period of the great cathedrals.
The Gothic Revival movement was really big in “rural” areas, in part because one of its first proponents wrote a book detailing its use in rural settings.
NOT ORIGINAL WINDOWS – BUT SHAPE IS
Even though these aren’t the original windows, their shape is. These windows were installed in August 1956. At that time, the church members had very protracted discussions about what to do with the church building, which at that time was over 100 years old. Eventually, they decided to put more money into renovating the building, rather than starting over. New windows were part of that general “face-lift.”
SYMBOLICALLY POINT US TO GOD
Symbolically – these windows point us to God – they lead the eye upward – and point straight to the heavens.
We tend to think of the medallions as the important part of the window – but every aspect of these windows conveys a meaning. There’s nothing accidental.
EACH WINDOW THE SAME
Each separate window is the same. Two long lateral panels, topped by a diamond shaped crest. – and if you break down the structure further, each lateral panel is the same – two bottom panels, the medallion panel, topped by an arch.
To Christians, the number three is the most powerful number, because it symbolizes the Trinity. And each of these windows is loaded with 3s.
Each bottom panel contains of six rows – that’s 2 3s -- of three diamonds. And you get a diamond when you put the bases of two equilateral triangles together.