Holy Trinity Lutheran Church repairs stained glass

MARSHALL — Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is adding a little color — and a little history — to its chapel with decorative stained glass windows, installed earlier this year.

When the church changed locations to a new building in 1997, their stained glass panels were sent for restoration. 27 years later, they’ve been reunited with the chapel’s new location at 605 Madison Street.

“They had to go somewhere to be repaired and cleaned, during the building of this church. And they were ready when this building was ready to accept them,” church member Linda Baldridge said.

Installing the panels took about two weeks, according to property manager and Church Council Vice President Larry Legro, following delays from October due to weather concerns. Throughout the process, he watched as the intricate units were delicately placed into their window sockets one by one.

The process was a meticulous one, requiring installers from to carefully situate each panel in their place to eliminate the possibility of sagging. Over time, stained glass structures can become weak under their own weight, Legro said, especially considering the lead binding that reinforces panels together.

“There’s edging going up along the sides of the windows, and they popped that out with really thin pry bars which keeps everything from falling forward,” Legro said. “And once everything is stacked up, they added black bars, which are reinforcing, to keep them from sagging.”

Legro, who is also in charge of cleaning the windows, said only clear storm windows were set in place before the installation.

“For two weeks we had clear windows,” Legro said. “And I told people that I scrubbed so hard, I got the ‘stains’ out of the glass.”

In the chapel, the church ceiling is about 20-and-a-half feet at its peak, Legro said, which was built specifically to accommodate the largest stained glass panel from the original church, located down the road at 311 Madison Street. Depicting Jesus shepherding lambs, the panel now towers behind the altar, with smaller panels lining the pews.

The glass installation, while historical in itself, follows an illustrious 110-year history of development that dates back to when the church was founded in 1913, according to church documents.

“On Sunday, May 4, 1913, the constitution was read and adopted, article by article, and the congregation received the name of the English Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity. Thus, Holy Trinity became officially organized and a sister congregation of St. Paul’s English Lutheran Church in Waterloo,” church documents read. From planning to completion, the church took 18 months to build.

“On November 28, 1914, the cornerstone of the church was set in place. In the cornerstone were placed coins of 1914, names of all the charter members, a bible, a description of the size of the building and a list of those members who helped in building the church,” according to church documents. The first worship was held in the newly-constructed Holy Trinity Lutheran Church building the next day.

A plaque for donors can be seen near the church entrance, paying homage to those who helped the church throughout its development. Names of those who helped contribute to its foundation can be seen in the newly-installed 1913 stained glass panels as well, although there is some mystery to that, Baldridge said.

“You can see the writing underneath those smaller windows — they were donated or paid for by certain families,” Balridge said. “Whether that original building was built so that there were certain openings for those windows, and they were filled one by one, or what… these are the kinds of questions that float around in my head.”

In addition to names subtly scattered throughout the building, the church’s growth can be seen by the willow tree outside its new location. The tree was planted to shield the windows from out-of-bounds balls from the neighboring high school, and according to church documents, broken panels had to be replaced twice.

“You can see where it’s been patched in a couple places, and you can tell some panes are not exactly the same color,” Baldridge said.

Over the past 100 years, Holy Trinity has hosted over 1,000 baptisms, 700 confirmations, 400 weddings and 370 funerals, according to church records. Now, the church looks forward to continuing their story with Palm Sunday worship on March 24, Maundy Thursday worship on March 28, Good Friday worship on March 29 and Easter Sunday worship on March 31, followed by an Easter egg hunt.