A NEW WINDOW FOR ST BARNABAS CHURCH

BACKGROUND

Kathy has been thinking about this for a number of years. When we had an initial meeting with Rachel Phillips it was Kath who gave her the foundation for the design.  She came with several ideas and lots of material for her to work with.  What was clear from the beginning was that the window should contain the figure of St Barnabas and reflect his qualities as the disciple whose name means (?) ‘Son of Encouragement’. Kathy wanted the link  to the church to be even clearer  with the addition of the dedication wording to ‘St Barnabas’ and use of the church’s date of opening/consecration  ’1888.’

(What is it that struck you when you saw it?)

Kath was keen to emphasise a very practical aspect of support and encouragement: the bringing and giving of alms. (Barnabas’ name?) The other aspect she wanted to express was the spreading of the Gospel (what do we know about that?) and suggested the use of vine imagery or some other kind of fruit, such as pomegranates, to symbolically represent the seeds, growth and fruitfulness of the Gospel.

Rachel was also given a copy of an article, ‘These are the Garments; A Study of the garments of the High Priest of Israel’, by Charles W. Slemming.  This article speaks movingly and powerfully of the grace of God found in Christ, our great High Priest. In considering the garments, mention is made of the hem of alternating golden bells and pomegranates around the base of the High Priests’ robe. These are considered as being symbolic of fruitfulness and peace. Passages from the article she found particularly significant were;

‘We have said the blue robe was an emblem of kingly grace. How many would endeavour to show us grace today in shreds, a weak and broken grace that cannot keep a man. Blessed be God, He has made grace to be unrendable! Works may fail, our love may waver, our passions may vary, but grace does not depend on these things or it would be merited and the word means, ‘unmerited favour’. The word of God says, ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.’

We are given to understand that although the pomegranate is not over appreciated in the British Isles, yet it is considered a luscious fruit in the East. As the apple is the fruit if love, (S of S ii) and the grape is the emblem of joy, (John xv), so the pomegranate is that which speaks of peace, (Joel i). Love, joy and peace go together, (Gal v22) ....The two spies bring back pomegranates with their large bunch of grapes from Eschol, (Num xiii23), as a witness that the land was fruitful.  In that inspired Song of Solomon we read: ‘ I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruit of the valley, and to see whether the vine flourished, and the pomegranates budded’, (vi. 11) ‘Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth; there I will give thee my loves’ (vii.12)

Rachel’s other considerations were to design a window that would relate to, but not fight with, the existing windows in the church, (particularly in the altar end.) She wanted a window that would use the light well and be colourful and cheering without making the area too dark.

So she used a few direct visual references, the existing windows being one, to help with the design. One of the others was the existing cover of the Services of Holy Communion booklet used at St Barnabas’ Church, with its dynamic representation of the dove of the Holy Spirit.

THE  INITIAL DESIGN(Small Scale)                     CARTOON (Full size working drawing)