Stained glass, like all aspects of a worship space, is Gods’ Word, just as much as are sermon or sacrament. Through the work of Christian artisans, in other words, God speaks to us. It was St. Augustine who first called the sacraments of Baptism and Communion “visible words,” namely, communication from God that we can see and touch. We might, in a similar way, refer to the works of architect, cabinetmaker, and stained glass artisan as “visual words.” Their art communicates indeed, it communicates very powerfully the story of our faith.

The artist and designer of our new windows is Charles Z. Lawrence from Philadelphia. Mr. Lawrence has worked with stained glass for over 25 years, and his windows can be seen in parish churches such as ours and in larger spaces such as the Washington Cathedral (D.C.), for which he was commissioned to do four windows.

The theme of all twelve of our windows is peace, this being, after all, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church. We chose twelve biblical stories about peace. We convened a handful of church members to talk with Mr. Lawrence about the stories and about some basic artistic parameters, and he did the rest. The first and last windows are abstract in style; the other ten are “semi - abstract,” that is, you can make out persons and figures, but must still use your imagination to grasp the power and depth of the window. If you move up close to the windows, you will see that they are made of “faceted glass,” rather thick, coarse shards of colored glass. This is in contrast to the much thinner “leaded glass,” on which details are often painted, that you may have seen elsewhere. We felt that the coarser texture of the faceted glass would fit better with the overall earthy feel of our space.

Stained glass began to appear in European churches around the 12th century, and the windows served primarily as teaching tools. By then the Mass was totally in Latin - most worshippers understood nothing at all. By then the chalice had been withdrawn from the people and was offered exclusively to the priests. A majority of Christians stopped communing altogether, so much so that a 13th century ecumenical Council had to require that people commune at least once a year! The windows originated, then, as a way to teach the faithful the stories of their faith. If they could not understand the liturgy and could little participate; they could at least cast their eyes on the beautiful windows and in that way learn.

Our windows, too, can be learned from... We learn what true peace looks like. Peace looks like a victim (lamb) not fearing to live with her predator (lion). Peace looks like hammering weapons of war into agricultural implements. Peace is forgiveness, such as a parent’s forgiveness of a prodigal child. It is creation restored to Gods’ original intent, in which plants, animals, people, even stars arid rocks live in harmony, without fear or exploitation. Take a guide from the narthex rack and spend some time with these windows, and learn peace.