Our Stained Glass Art
The church is delighted to have restored and installed two beautiful and historic works of art in our building. The stained glass pieces were dedicated at Pastor David Ivie’s Installation Service on Sunday, March 26th, 2017.
The pieces were donated to our church in 2012 from First Presbyterian Church in Teague, Texas after that church closed. We believe the pieces date to 1914, as that is the date the Teague building was constructed.
The stained glass installation involved two pieces of historic artwork...
The Resurrection - Located in Church Sanctuary
The largest stained glass piece is a piece approximately 7-foot wide and 10-foot tall. It is a depiction of the resurrected Jesus with Mary at the empty tomb (John 20:11-18). Portions were hand-painted. This piece was originally installed at the front of the Teague church so that passers-by could see it from the outside. It was installed in the interior of our sanctuary, making it the center of our worship space. Unfortunately it is only visible to people inside the building; yet the payoff is that it is completely protected from weather. Since it is no longer an outside window, it is backlit with 12 strands of LED lights.
Church Name - in the transom window above the door in Building A.
The other piece is a half-moon shaped panel with the words “First Presbyterian Church,” one of two such pieces which crowned the two front doors in Teague on either side of the stained glass. It was reconfigured to a rectangle shape and installed in the transom window above our entry doors.
Background Information
Due to their age, and having been in an unoccupied building for 8 years, portions of the wood frame and stained glass were damaged and had to be completely restored, including hand-painting some of the panels. The newly-restored stained glass is appraised at $56,000 for replacement value.
The work was completed by Willet-Hauser Architectural Glass, Inc. (Winona, Minnesota) which has 100+ years of expertise and substantial history across the nation. Special thanks to Project Manager Reed Oliver.
We are excited and honored to have this work of art enhancing our worship space! May we all praise the Risen Lord and live the resurrection each day.
Information about their original home in Teague.
Chartered in 1907, the congregation of First Presbyterian Teague held their final worship service was November 23, 2003. The Teague Historical Preservation Society, led by Jo Nita Cannon, purchased the building in 2004 in hopes of saving the historic 1914 structure. Studies revealed that restoration, estimated at $850,000, was cost-prohibitive. The city of Teague and the Texas Historic Commission deemed it unsafe. The building was razed in February 2012 by Cunningham Construction of Hillsboro, with the construction crew salvaging and re-using as much of the building as possible. Terry Cunningham felt it was not right to make money off a sacred work of art and asked Jo Nita Cannon to help find a suitable home for it. A connection was made with FPC Forney when then Pastor Kathy Collier was at the office of Grace Presbytery in Irving and happened upon a black and white facsimile of the stained glass. She was thrilled to accept the gift, as FPC Forney had just relocated to new building and new property in 2006 and had plans for a second building. Rev. Collier arranged for the stained glass to come to us at a cost of only $400—the cost of transportation.
