He is The Vine

John 5:15 "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

This week we installed a stained glass window for Faith Lutheran Church, which is right up the road from us here in Seward. The Church entrance had pre-existing windows that had been made by a parishioner, now retired from window-making, and the Church was seeking to add to the design in Memorial of another parishioner.

Having to work with the design of another artist is always challenging, understanding their symbols and intention forces us to step out of our own shoes and look at what is there as best we can from the viewpoint of another. The symbols for Baptism and the Lord's Supper reminds us of our unity as Liturgical Artists and Christians, we are all branches from the same vine.

This wasn't the first time we had worked with Faith Lutheran. Back in 2007 we refininshed their East wall or Chancel wall, and when we began to make designs for the window we decided to combine the old with the new.

The final designs brought together the vines from the pre-existing windows from the entrance and the cross design from their sanctuary, utilizing both of them to aestheically unite the church as a building.

Working with the existing design, we were able to continue the intention of the artist and convey their message of unity, while we added to it our own, reminding us that is by the cross that we are brought together.

At the end of the day, its beautiful to see the two designs working so well together, as they are brought together by a common purpose. Liturgical Art, like the Liturgial Artist, is here to serve.