The congregation at Rejoice Lutheran Church will be witnessing something very special during a dedication of the church’s new stained glass windows Sunday. 

 

The 18-panels, created by Ter Harr Studios in Cold Spring, are the result of years of planning and months of designing by members of the Rejoice community.

 

“This was identified as a memorial project back about five years ago,” says Rejoice Pastor Scott Gjevre. “But there’s sort of a bittersweet quality about this project.”

 

Last year, Bob Monk, a big supporter of stained glass at the church, passed away.

 

“When he died, his family took the memorial money and kick-started the project,” says Gjevre. “Then a team of people began working on it, trying to identify a possible vendor to do the work.”

 

Ter Harr Studios, a family-run company with more than 50 years in the stained glass business was selected, and in February, church members began incorporating images into a design.

 

“In the process of designing the windows, the steering committee - Deena Monk-Kobow, Karie Monk-Gohman, Bette Monk, Jim Eich, Wally Westerberg, Marilyn Koontz and Kay Krogstad  gave their ideas to Christi Becker, Artistic Designer for Ter-Haar Studios, who, in turn, came up with the design,” says Gjevre.  “We went through about five critiques. The final design came about in the first part of May.”

 

At that point the congregation gave its blessing to the final design. 

 

“As soon as we said go ahead, they ordered the glass, which was made in Germany,” says Gjevre. Ter Harr began assembling the windows in their shop in Cold Spring. The 18 panels incorporate images from the church’s past, including the message from its mission statement “To grow in Faith, Love and Service.”

 

Those aspects are represented by images of the mustard seed, the heart, and the giving hands, all located in the bottom panels of the design. The peace dove also reminds one to “Share in the Spirit”.

 

At the top left there is an impression of clouds and the swirl of a ribbon representing “Creation”. In this area, darker, more muted glass is used to block out the strong sunlight.  Moving out into the light from the darkness are the three trumpets used as the Rejoice Lutheran Church logo.

 

“The total cost was $53,830. We knew it would cost a fair amount of money,” says Gjevre. “But the memorial gifts have just flooded in.”

 

Installation began Oct. 27. The window will be unveiled Sunday. (Nov. 2), which is also All Saints Day, a particularly fitting day for the dedication.