Prologue The First United Methodist Church of Carroll was

founded in 1868. After outgrowing their first building on

the corner of 6th and Court they moved to a second

location at 7th and Main in 1901.

It was in that location that the first three stained-glass

windows were installed. The “Jesus Window” at the front

of the current Sanctuary and 2 rose windows located on

the Adams street side of the building.

In 1957 they moved to the current location where 3

additional stained-glass windows were installed. Years

later the “Jesus blesses the children” window and the

Sunrise window on the east side of the building were

added.

In 2020 I took on the task of preaching the windows

spurred on by a conversation I had with Nina Akin on

Maundy Thursday 2019.

In the summer months of 2019, we discovered the Jesus

Window had a bulge. The cost for servicing the window

would be almost $20,000. Fundraising for the restoration

of the Jesus Window coincided with the “Light of

Heaven” sermon series. We reached the fundraising goal

the last Sunday of the sermon series. The Jesus window

will receive a total restoration and facelift for its 120th

birthday in 2021.

These windows have spoken to us in these weeks of

worship as we reflected on the symbols and colors that

surround us in worship. It is my prayer that generations

to come will enjoy them as much as we do. And I

challenge future pastors to take on the task of interpreting

these windows through their unique eyes and in light of

the circumstances in which they might find themselves.

The process was very meaningful to many of us.

This book is a brief guide to the windows of the church

as I see them. Enjoy it. The text is primarily excerpts

from the sermons. You can learn more by reading the

actual history of the Jesus Window compiled, by Cindy

Krauel, or reading the sermons I preached which I will

file with the church historian.

Gods Bless and open your eyes to the Light of Heaven.

Pastor Terry Plocher April 2020

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Figure 3 Given by the Epworth League (18-35 years old) and

Junior Epworth League (Highschool age)

Figure 4 The motto of the Epworth League

The Jesus Window (Front of the sanctuary)

Things to look for: 1. Compare and contrast the original piece or art

(1895, Sybil C. Parker) with the window (figure

2). Do you see…

a. The change in color of Jesus’ robe. (Maybe

to make the lamb more visible?)

b. Missing doves above Jesus’ left shoulder

and a missing sheep by his left foot?

c. The change in the color of the robe on the

rock with the shepherd’s crook and Titulus

Crucis (Sign that hung on the cross above

Jesus.)

2. The cross behind Jesus.

3. The “halo” around his head.

4. The very faint crown of thorns on his head.

5. The wheat and grapes above him.

6. The key on the outside of the door by Jesus’ hand.

7. The very faint nail hole in Jesus left foot. (More

visible in the original painting).

8. The Epworth LEAGUE AND Junior Epworth

League logos and motto (figure 4)

Reflection This remarkable window almost speaks for itself.

I am immediately drawn to Jesus: The perfectly

proportioned, gracefully dressed savior with the glow

around his head stands in the door. He holds the door

open for the sheep.

Sybil Parker’s title, “Door of the Sheep,” points to

John 10:9 that says, “I AM THE GATE; WHOEVER

ENTERS THROUGH ME WILL BE SAVED. THEY

WILL COME IN AND GO OUT AND FIND

PASTURE.” “The door of the fold” in Jesus day would

have been the shepherd himself. The shepherd slept in

the only opening in the stones that made up the

sheepfold.

Make note of the care and love with which Jesus

carries the lamb and cares for the sheep. I don’t think it is

just my imagination that Jesus is cradling that little lamb

with special tenderness. Jesus says, “MY SHEEP HEAR

MY VOICE. I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW

ME. I GIVE THEM ETERNAL LIFE, AND THEY

WILL NEVER PERISH. NO ONE WILL SNATCH

THEM OUT OF MY HAND.” Maybe this is the lamb

that was lost, and he left the 99 to go back to find me…

or is it you? Jesus tells the parable “WHICH ONE OF

YOU, HAVING A HUNDRED SHEEP AND LOSING

ONE OF THEM, DOES NOT LEAVE THE NINETY-

NINE IN THE WILDERNESS AND GO AFTER THE

ONE THAT IS LOST UNTIL HE FINDS IT?” (Luke

15:4) It could be any of us.

Finally, notice all the symbols of sacrifice: the

cross, the crown of thorns, the blood red robe, the hole in

his foot, the rock representing Golgotha, the sign that

says king of the Jews. This reminds me of verse 11, “I

AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD. THE GOOD

SHEPHERD LAYS DOWN HIS LIFE FOR THE

SHEEP.”

Jesus is the protector and savior of the flock. He is

perfectly willing to sacrifice his life for the life of even

one little lamb.

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Figure 5 – 6 circles + the large circle

Figure 6 The center of the eternity window

The Eternity Window (Front of the

sanctuary)

Things to look for: 1. Notice how the eye is drawn to this window by the

shape and slope of the roof.

2. The 6 circles that define the 6 points in the

window.

3. They are the same size as the circle around the

points. That makes 7 (the perfect number) circles

(The perfect shape)

4. Do you see the three figure eights that make up the

6 circles?

5. Blue “gems” stand for eternity or heaven.

6. Red gems remind us of the blood of Christ. They

are in 6 groups of 3 (we always think trinity when

we see 3)

7. The cross and crown in the center.

Reflection

When I walk into the sanctuary my eye is

immediately drawn up to the beautiful rose window

above the Jesus window. It makes me feel like the glory

of the Lord is shining upon me. The Jesus window is

very cool, but it seems that the slope of the roof, the

shape of the window itself, the narrowing of the chancel

area first carries my eyes to that beautiful rose window

above the Jesus Window.

This window is the one that says to me “darkness

may cover the earth, and thick darkness may blind the

people. BUT THE LORD WILL RISE UPON US AND

HIS GLORY WILL SHINE ALL OVER YOU.” It

reminds me of Matthew 4:16 “THE PEOPLE LIVING

IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT; ON

THOSE LIVING IN THE LAND OF THE SHADOW

OF DEATH A LIGHT HAS DAWNED."

No matter how dark the day, whenever I come

into the sanctuary, the light streaming through that

window with its sunrise colored amber glass is like dawn

to me.

As you look into the window, is it possible that

God is appearing to you right now asking you to be a

light that will disperse someone else’s darkness?

As you look into the window, is it possible that

God is appearing to you right now by piercing whatever

darkness may be in your heart or life?

As you look into the window, is it possible that

God is appearing to you right now asking you to take a

step toward Jesus? Take your first step or take your next

step toward Jesus who is himself the light that shines in

the darkness.

Jesus is the light that no one can put out.

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Figure 9

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The Promise Window (Front of the east

wall sanctuary)

Things to look for: 1. Notice the shape of the windows… What is it? I

see 3 angels, shoulder to shoulder.

2. Notice the 10 commandments have a vine behind

them. When we see a vine, we think “I AM THE

VINE YOU ARE THE BRANCHES.” Living the

law brings life.

3. Notice even while the ark is still under dark sky

and rough seas, Noah’s hope is represented by the

dove. God’s promise is represented by the

glimmer of sunrise in the background.

4. The flowers in the baptism window are lotus

flowers (lily pad blossoms) that grow from the

darkness of the lake bottom to the light and

blossom on top of the water.

5. The resemblance to our baptismal font.

6. The dove and the “voice” represented by rays of

light.

Reflection At first, it seemed like a stretch to include the 10

commandments with the other windows. The vine is the

key. The promise that we will find life in the following

of the law. Then there is the promise of the rainbow at

the end of the flood. And finally, the promise of baptism

lifting us from the muck to the light to hear the words,

“THIS IS MY BELOVED CHILD.”

God used an ark to save Noah from the mud and

muck of the flood.

God carved the commandments on the hearts of his

people when he still had the mud of Egyptian slavery and

the muck of the red sea on their feet.

God Saved us once and for all from the muck of

our sin by drawing us to the mystery and miracle of

baptism.

We need to be cleansed… we need the miracle and

mystery that is baptism.

The miracle is that God has created a way to raise

us from the muck and mire of sin and make us clean.

The mystery of baptism is that in this mighty act of

redemption God speaks to you. God speaks to me. God

speaks to anyone who will submit to the mysterious

miraculous waters. Just as God spoke at Jesus’ baptism.

In that mystery, God speaks again to claim us and

name us as God’s own. God places his brand on our

foreheads and says to all creation, “This one is mine…

this is my child… this one loves me back.

This one is special.”

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The Banquet Window (Middle of the

east wall sanctuary)

Things to look for: 1. Notice wheat has ten heads, 6= humanity (which

comes from two groups of 3-trinity) + 4= creation.

The wheat reminds us that Jesus was indeed a real

live human being who came to participate in

creation with the creatures.

2. The vine is a grape vine which bears the fruit of

the vine which in communion is the blood of

Christ.

3. The vine is empty. The fruit of the kingdom is not

yet ripe.

4. Notice that the grapes in the cup in the middle

window are NOT disconnected from the vine.

They are still connected to the vine which is life

itself.

Reflection Picture it. You are invited to a great banquet. The

invitation comes engraved on that really high-quality

paper

Finally, the night comes, and you walk into the

room and the beauty of the room and table takes your

breath away. The beautiful decorations say, “Someone

went through a lot of work for me.” You are ushered to

your place at the table. You’re surprised to see that you

are surrounded by people you know and love, or maybe

people you always wanted to meet.

While everyone is laughing and celebrating, the

food starts coming out. And it keeps coming out... and it

keeps coming out. Baskets of food, plates of food, bowls

of food, gravy boats of food, Oh, and then my favorite…

the desserts start coming out. There is more food than an

army could eat in a year.

Although there are thousands of people at the

table, the host talks to each one… and even knows your

name. If you need something, he gets up to get it

himself… because he told the servers to sit down at the

table and enjoy the feast.

It is the best night of your life. And best of all, the

host says, “The table is always set, come back any time!”

This is the table of community. The table of unity

in Christ Jesus. A table of unity with Christ Jesus. It is a

table of grace.

Philipps Craig and Dean wrote a song “table of

grace.” Notice the first words of the song.

Hear the good news, you've been invited

No matter what others may say

Your darkest sins will be forgiven

You will always have a place

At the table of grace, the cup's never empty

The plate's always full and it's never too late

To come and be filled with love never ending

You're always welcome at the table of grace1

1 Table Of Grace - Phillips Craig & Dean

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Figure 17 the anchor window

Figure 18 the anchor window

The Cross Window (West wall sanctuary)

Things to look for: 1. Notice the anchor in the rose window on the

landing leading to 3rd floor.

2. The vine with the Bible and cross. Perhaps the life

that comes from Jesus through Scripture.

3. The palm branch in the middle window. The palm

branch was a symbol of victory.

4. The glimmer of a sunrise at the horizon behind the

cross on the rock.

Reflection Right to left…

Most prominently we see the Holy Bible. The

Bible reminds us that Jesus is the Word of God. “IN THE

BEGINNING WAS THE WORD, AND THE WORD

WAS WITH GOD, AND THE WORD WAS GOD. THE

WORD TOOK ON FLESH AND DWELT AMONG

US.”

Then we see the vine. “I AM THE VINE; YOU

ARE THE BRANCHES.” Jesus came that we might

“HAVE LIFE AND HAVE IT ABUNDANTLY.” He is

the vine; we are the branches. If we abide in him (the

Word) we have life, and apart from him, we can do

nothing (we have death).

The crown in the middle window of course

reminds us of a king. We need to live as though Christ

really is king in our lives. We need to live like we really

mean it when we say, “Jesus is Lord.” We need to take

our comfort, our desires, our ego, our prosperity out of

the driver’s seat of our lives and subject them to our lord

and master Jesus Christ.

If we do that the palm branch of victory makes

more sense. I think this palm branch reminds us that

Jesus has already won victory over all the sin, evil, and

oppression in our lives. Because of Jesus, we are no

longer victims of sin. We are saved people.

Imagine a great storm and your boat is swamped

and sunk. You bob around in your life jacket for a few

days, but that is getting old and the odds of being saved

are dwindling by the hour. And then you see this. This

tiny safe spot in a whole ocean that is trying to kill you.

You might have to share it with 300 or 400 seagulls, but

it is land, it is safety. It is hope.

We float around in our lives, sometimes bobbing

fiercely with the stormy waves that come. Waves of poor

health, grief, the loss of a job, the loss of a relationship.

Maybe you share the churning wave of mental illness

with me, I know several of you face fierce wave of

addiction one day at a time. Whatever your storm might

be, we bob around going nowhere, having no hope of

being rescued, no hope of finding land, just waiting to be

swallowed up by the sea, or even worse by a shark.

Is that the way Christ wants us to be? No, we are

disciples of the Lord of hope. We are followers of the

one who brought hope to a hopeless world. In Christ

there is hope. For all of us who bob around aimlessly

Christ is our hope for tomorrow an all the tomorrows to

come.

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The Sunrise Window –

Resurrection window (Over the Main

Street

Things to look for: 1. 3 crosses made by the window frames.

2. The window shows up better in the dark of

night.

Reflection This window reminds me that in spite of all the

ugliness in the world… in spite of all the meanness

around us… in spite of all the hatred and crime and

sickness and prejudice and war… in spite of the darkness

of sin in our world… the empty cross and the light of

Easter morning still brings hope… our only hope.

Furthermore, the darker the world gets… the more

frightening it gets…the more horrible the circumstance,

the more awful the story… the brighter grows the Easter

light. The Light and power of God raises each and every

day from darkness to the light of the Easter sunrise. The

light and power of God transfigures each and every one

into kingdom people. As the darkness moves in on the

parking lot, or the world, or our lives, the light of God

shining through this window takes over as a beautiful

glass reminder of God’s transfiguring power.

Former American Poet Laureate, Robert Pinsky,

said, “we never know which point in our lives marks our

zenith, and it’s probably a good thing we don’t.” I don’t

know what the future holds for us. We are all a little

scared, but we need to stand together in the light of the

transfiguration and the light of this window. I see in this

window a promise for the transfiguration of each new

day into a kingdom day. I see in this window the hope

that God will transform each of us daily so we’ll never be

afraid that the darkness will put us out. I don’t think our

best days are behind us. I don’t know if today is the best

day in the history of this church, or tomorrow or 5 years

from now. But as long as we shine as bright as we can,

love as much as we can, work as hard as we can, give as

generously as we can, pray as much as we can each and

every day… the stained glass sunrise over our doors will

be a God-rise. Whether we realize it or not God will rise

up and make us into the church God wants us to be. God

will rise up and make us into the people God wants us to

be. Remember, when the world gets darker out there, or

in here, the God-rise only shines brighter.

We don’t need a bunch of glow in the dark

Jesuses. We have people who glow with God’s love as

they are the hands and feet of Jesus. Go transfigured by

God’s presence and power and bring a Godrise to

someone each day.

Jesus and the Children Window

(back of the sanctuary)

Things to look for: 1. The postures of the Jesus in this window and the

“Jesus Window” are very similar.

2. The little boy on the left dressed a lot like Jesus

3. Different kinds of flowers in the window. The girls

are holding a daisy (a symbol of the innocence of

Christ at his birth.) The other is holding a poppy (a

traditional symbol of the crucifixion.).

Reflection “Kids, you have to love them.” And we do. They

bring joy to our families and life to the church. That’s

why it is so neat to have a window dedicated to children

in the back of the sanctuary. Part of the story is that

someone in the choir asked for a stained-glass window

they could see on the way out. It was decided that since

the youth gave the church the “Door of the Fold”

window, the older generation would give the church the

“Jesus and the Children” window. It is intended to

compliment the “Door of the Fold” window. For

instance, both show Jesus tending “the flock.”

The first panel was installed in 2004 and the last in

2007. Carol north, who headed the project, said, “the

three windows are celebrating our children, their

importance in our church family, the need for Christian

education, and the acknowledgement they are the future

of our church. “

Children are like mirrors into their parent’s

behavior. (sometimes embarrassingly so) do you

remember the old commercial where the father and son

walked hand in hand, sat down under a tree and the father

took out a pack cigarettes and lit up? The boy watches

very carefully. Then he looks down at the pack a

cigarette and, if I remember right, he reaches toward it.

The voiceover was “like father like son?”

For good or for ill our children will do as we do,

say as we say, and generally imitate adults.

If we want to enter the Kingdom of God, we need

to imitate Jesus. Shouldn’t we be following in Jesus

footsteps? Doing as he does, loving others the way hwe

treats them? That is how kids are… loving a he loves,

accepting others as he accepted them.? Of course, we

should.

As we become young adults, we gain enough self-

esteem and self-differentiation, however, that we value

our individuality and think doing things our way is better.

If we were a little more like the two boys in the picture,

doing as Jesus does, walking as Jesus walks, loving as

Jesus loves, forgiving as Jesus forgives, we would be

better disciples. If we spent our lives trying to imitate

Jesus, we would be better children of the kingdom.

Some people say children are the future of the

church…I would say they are the “today” of the church.

But whether there is a future for the church depends on

how well we learn from our children today because it is

to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.