Our Church Windows

One of the treasures of St. Paul's is its stained glass. The original church, completed in 1906, included simple nave windows with diamond-shaped insets of yellow and clear glass. Gradually, beginning in the 1920s, these windows were replaced with ornate and intriguing works of various biblical scenes.

Most of the nave windows are by the St. Louis firm of Jacoby Art Glass. The Jacoby signature can be seen in the window closest to the front of the church on the west wall. The two center windows on the east wall are by the famed Powell & Sons Whitefriars Glassworks of Great Britain. You can identify those windows by the Whitefriars signature, a hooded monk in the lower right-hand corner of each window. Whitefriars, which closed in 1980, was a leader in the Arts and Crafts movement and is one of the most famous of the British glass works of the late 19th and early 20th century.

The windows in the narthex are by the Willet Studio of Philadelphia, which was a leader in American glass design for churches. The narthex windows depict the twelve apostles and are fine examples of jewel windows. Jewel windows are notable for their mosaic-like designs and brilliant colors.

One of the most magnificent examples of a jewel window is the Ascension window at the north end of the nave. This is also known as the Meriwether window in honor of the family that dedicated it as a memorial to their parents.

You can find out more about St. Paul's windows at http://www.lincolnu.edu/~glass. This historical site gathers information about stained-glass windows in churches across Missouri. You'll find two St. Paul's windows depicted there - the Resurrection, http://www.lincolnu.edu/~glass/resurrection.htm, under Biblical Subjects, and the stained-glass portrait of church leader William Hare, http://www.lincolnu.edu/~glass/Hare.htm, under Church History.