For nearly 1000 years holy spaces have been enriched by the beauty of stained-glass windows. In part, such windows have served to decorate sanctuaries, but primarily they were meant to educate and inspire through the illustration of biblical history and our further responsibilities to spread the word and example of Christ.
In the twelfth century, the Abbot Suger of St. Denis, Paris, identified the extraordinary colored light created by these windows as a sacred aura and space hovering between heaven and earth. Few have since chosen to dispute this claim.
Our glass at Northside Drive was designed and created for us in 1976-78 by Henry Willet of Willet Studios. His image is displayed in one of the secular windows.
Different from many churches, our more prominent windows are "faceted" glass...a hand-made product richer in color than stained glass, thicker in dimension, and, for the over-curious, painful to the touch. Our windows feature symbols rather than human figures and are therefore perhaps more open for interpretation and discussion than their more literal counterparts in other churches.
Looking from the altar to the Narthex, the six upper windows (lancets) to the right of the Narthex doors depict familiar Old Testament stories including the Creation and the lives of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses. The next three windows on this (east) side of the Sanctuary depict the nativity and mission of Jesus Christ. On the other side of our pipe organ are three windows which tell the story of the Passion.
The remaining six upper lancets depict stories of the history of the Protestant Church and, in particular, the Baptist Church. The lower-level windows are very specific to NDBC history, our missions, membership, and the wonders of the modern world or at least as modern as we could imagine in 1976). Be sure to see the peanut, symbol of our former member President Jimmy Carter.