Church celebrates 30th anniversary of stained glass installation with artists

Niwot United Methodist Church celebrated the 30th anniversary of the installation of a stained glass window in its sanctuary on Sept. 8.

The stained glass was designed and created by current church member Gayle Weiss and former member Patti Dahlem, now living in Colorado Springs, who volunteered for the project after out-sourced bids to other artists came in too high for the congregation to afford. They met once a week to painstakingly create the window art.

After completion, the stained glass was installed in an upper window of the sanctuary so that the sun would illuminate it.

The artists both attended the service and spoke about their experience in creating the work, which took more than two years to complete.

In addition to the artists' presentation and a special re-dedication prayer by Pastor Emily Kinzel, Weiss and her husband, Mike Weiss, performed a beautiful rendition of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" to celebrate the anniversary.

The key elements of the work were taken from biblical symbols.

Weiss explained the symbolism:

"The sun in the window" references Psalm 50:1 which says that "God the Lord, speaks and summons the Earth from the rising of the sun to its setting."

The mountains were added to honor Boulder County's geography and also the verse from Isaiah 55 that says, "For you shall go out in joy, and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands."

The hills reference Psalm 121:1 which says, "I will lift up my eyes to the hills."

The water reminds us that Christ is the living water.

The evergreen trees are ever present in Colorado, and also symbolize eternal life because they stay green all year.

The cross is a symbol of Christ's death and resurrection. The cross in the window was

made from red glass that was used in the church before it was remodeled in the 1980s.

The dove represents peace.

The butterfly symbolizes the resurrection and eternal life.

The lily references Matthew 6:28 which says, "Consider the lilies of the fields how they grow; they neither toil nor spin; yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."

The olive is a symbol of victory, hope, and expectation of new life.