MUHLENBERG LUTHERAN CHURCH
  • Home
  • Visiting?
    • Directions
    • Becoming a Member
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Jobs
    • Congregation Council
    • Strategic Plan
    • History
    • Stained Glass & Art Around Church
  • Worship & Sermons
    • Lent 2023
    • What to Expect
    • The Wellstream: Digital Worship
    • Sermons
    • Serve in Worship
    • Music
  • Connect
    • The Chimes
    • Christian Formation & Education
    • Vacation Bible School 2022
    • Connect with us on Social Media
    • Member Directory
    • Calendar
    • Ministries
    • Small Groups
    • Lutheran Campus Ministry
    • Youth Ministry
    • Pastor's Book Club
  • GIVE
    • Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow
  • DIGITAL WORSHIP

Stained Glass & Art Around Church

The beauty of our nave is enhanced by 7 stained/painted glass windows and a glass mosaic. Each has been given in memory of members of our congregation who have gone on to heaven. Each bears a special message in symbolism, representing the witness of a memorable Christian. These are descriptions of the window in the nave of the church, our primary worship space: East wall from the rear wrapping through the Nave (Easter Window) and then the two windows on the West wall leading to the Mosaic.
Picture
John on the Isle of Patmos
Picture
Saint Luke
Picture
Saint Mark
Picture
Saint Matthew
Picture
Over the altar: The Easter Window:
dates from 1952 and is the work of the J & R Lamb Company of Spring Valley, New York.

Picture
Pastor John Peter Gabriel Muhlenberg of Woodstock, Virginia.
Picture
Martin Luther at the Diet of Worm in 1721.

The final space where a window would be (but isn't, because it abuts the wall of the main entrance Narthex): is filled by a glorious Memorial Mosaic made in Italy. The sympbolism of this mosaic begins in the top circle representing the Holy Trinity, and connects to the bottom circle which has symbols of Life. A more full description can be found here.

The other windows were created over a period of years between the late 1960's and early 1970's by the Wippel Mowbray Church Furnishings Company of Exeter, England

All the windows are of the shape called 'double lancet', with a diamond-shaped pane at the top

Each of the windows from Exeter frames the colored picture with an elaborate architectural setting. In each 'frame', the details (columns, pilasters, etc.) are different. 
Picture

The Eight Days of Creation
Stained Glass Designs by Mary Delaney in our Sanctuary's South Wall Windows - The Chapel. Full descriptions of can be read here.
Day One
Genesis 1:1-3
Light

Picture
Day Two
Genesis 1:6-7
Water Above & Below
Picture
Day Three
Genesis 1:9-12
Land, Seas, Plants & Trees
Picture
Day Four
Genesis 1:14-16
Sun, Moon, & Stars
Picture
Day Five
Genesis 1:20-21
Marine Life & Birds
Picture
Day Six
Genesis 1:24-27
People & Animals
Picture
Day Seven
Genesis 2:2-3,9
Day of Rest
Picture
Day Eight

Day of Resurrection
Picture

Paintings by Crystal Theodore
Three powerful paintings by one of our long-term members, Dr. Crystal Theodore, noted local artist and educator, long associated with James Madison University hang in our Library. The paintings were given to Muhlenberg Lutheran Church by the artist, Crystal Theodore, in memory of her parents, Florence B. and James V. Theodore.
Picture
 "No Other God"
(Pictured Left) This painting depicts a furious Moses destroying the golden calf. Woven into the background are Hebrew letters for the words "Thou shalt have no other god before me." The painting is of oils on Belgian linen; and is 63" high and 31" wide.
"The Annunciation"
(Pictured Right) We see Mary the Virgin opening wide her arms to accept the gift announced by the Dove of the Holy Spirit. Notice that her arms and the wings of the heavenly messenger enclose Mary's head and the symbolic Dove in a heart-shaped space. We can also observe that both a shadowy communion chalice and a cross seem to veil and enclose much of Mary's body.
Picture
Picture
"The Death of Jesus"
"The Death of Jesus" depicts the twelfth of the fourteen Stations of the Cross and was painted as an entry into a national juried competition sponsored by Grace-St.Luke's Episcopal Church in Memphis, Tennessee for Lent. The painting was unanimously selected by the jurors to serve as the basis for a poster for the exhibition, which remained on view from February 25th through April 12th 1998. It was also selected as one of twenty works to be placed in the nave. The painting was executed in oils on a wood panel coated with gesso. Symbols include:
(a) the sparrows mentioned in Matthew 10:29 - "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."
(b) a setting sun (in Mithraic symbolism "sun" also means "sun"); and
(c) the trees on Mary's right side which show a faint green, the symbolic color for life. The painting is 53" high and 25" wide.

Muhlenberg Lutheran Church
281 East Market Street
Harrisonburg, VA 22801
Vertical Divider
Contact the Church Office:
​​540-434-3496

info@muhlenberglutheran.org
Vertical Divider
Sunday Schedule:
Worship ~ 8:30am & 11am (11am live-streamed on Facebook & YouTube)
​Christian Formation ~ 9:45am
Picture
  • Home
  • Visiting?
    • Directions
    • Becoming a Member
  • About Us
    • Staff
    • Jobs
    • Congregation Council
    • Strategic Plan
    • History
    • Stained Glass & Art Around Church
  • Worship & Sermons
    • Lent 2023
    • What to Expect
    • The Wellstream: Digital Worship
    • Sermons
    • Serve in Worship
    • Music
  • Connect
    • The Chimes
    • Christian Formation & Education
    • Vacation Bible School 2022
    • Connect with us on Social Media
    • Member Directory
    • Calendar
    • Ministries
    • Small Groups
    • Lutheran Campus Ministry
    • Youth Ministry
    • Pastor's Book Club
  • GIVE
    • Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow
  • DIGITAL WORSHIP