Artist concept of the stained glass window that is due to be installed next month in St. Herman Orthodox Christian Church in Littleton.
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Posted on Wed Nov 25 2009
Englewood Herald, Colorado - Next month, St. Herman Orthodox Christian Church at 991 W. Prentice Ave. in Littleton becomes what is though to be the only Orthodox church with a stained glass window.
Next month, St. Herman Orthodox Christian Church at 991 W. Prentice Ave. in Littleton becomes what is though to be the only Orthodox church with a stained glass window.
“Stained glass windows are not usually a part of the Orthodox sacred art tradition,” said Father John Armstrong, St. Herman pastor. “In our tradition, sacred art like icons are never supposed to be dark. Generally, a stained glass window is dark at night so they are not normally included in our churches. But, we worked with Mike Shields, who is creating our window to set up a system to keep the window illuminated when it gets dark.”
St. Herman is part of the Diocese of the West and the Orthodox Church in America.
The Orthodox Church traces its origin to the late 1700s when a group of missionaries from the Valaamo Monastery in Russia arrived in Kodiak, Alaska.
Orthodox churches were established in California and, in 1972, 10 members of the Transfiguration of Christ Orthodox Cathedral in Denver launched the effort to start a new church in the metro area. The church first met in Lakewood in October 1972 and in 1973, bought property on Belleview Avenue in Cherry Hills Village. The church outgrew the facility and they bought the location on South Prince Street in 1976.
The decision to install a stained glass window grew out of the desire of the congregation to do something about the dingy window on the south side of the building.
“The plexiglass window was put in in the the 1970s,” Father John said. “It wasn’t very energy efficient, it was all scratched up and there were even a couple bullet holes in it.”
Members of the congregation discussed the issue for several years then decided in July to put in a stained glass window.
“We felt the multicolored light from the window would enhance the sacred space inside our church plus the window would be a silent testimony to the community about what is going on inside our building,” Armstrong said. “We wanted to have a stained glass window that displays the recognized traditional image of St. Herman. We worked with Mike Shields of Creative Stained Glass Creations in Evergreen to develop the pattern. He is working on the window and plans are to install it before Christmas.”
Father John said the artist is using traditional techniques to create the window so that some elements will be regular stained glass while some elements of the window will be textured stained glass.
The difference in the texture of the glass are expected to create different light patterns inside the sanctuary, the pastor said.
“We feel this will be an exciting addition to our church,” Father John said. “We are really looking forward to the day we can celebrate the installation.”
St. Herman Orthodox christian Church is located at 991 W. Prentice Ave.
The window cost about $25,000 to $27,000. Father John said all the donations have been small but have added up to about $22,000.
Discussion: Orthodox Church adding stained glass window
Not the only one
St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church in Port Townsend, WA also has a stained glass window, though not of an icon. We have a stained glass cross high in the east wall. St. Herman's is also an OCA church.
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