Historic stained glass to accentuate St. Andrew renovations
The wall behind the St. Andrew sanctuary undergoes construction. (courtesy photo/Deacon Kevin Bagley)
FORT WORTH — Upon rounding a corner in the St. Andrew church nave, the sight of a reclining figure startles momentarily, then raises a chuckle. What appeared to be a person at rest turns out to be the corpus of Christ laid across several chairs.
The statue of Jesus awaits reattachment to the cross already back in place on the sanctuary wall, a crucifix soon to be enhanced by surrounding beauty.
What began about two years ago as a routine repair took on the addition of 19th century stained-glass windows from Baltimore by way of Germany thanks to Deacon Kevin Bagley, former chief of staff of the Fort Worth parish.
The renovation originally involved the sanctuary's back wall. Water leakage over the years caused the stucco to flake, raising aesthetic and asbestos concerns.
“The work needed to be done,” said Dcn. Bagley who is now assigned at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Arlington. “[St. Andrew] dates from the 1950s. Over the years, a small water leak at the top of the wall caused the stucco not to hold up like it should. It was time to get it fixed, and a couple of parishioners stepped forward with funds to get that project moving.”
The decision was made to encapsulate rather than abate the affected area, which was subsequently fronted by Austin stone.
Simultaneously, Dcn. Bagley recalled Baltimore's St. Clare Parish where he had been assigned in the 1990s. Officials at that parish purchased 12 stained glass windows from a now closed Baltimore parish, St. James the Less.
“Those windows, from Franz Mayer Glass Company in Germany, were installed in the 1880s,” Dcn. Bagley said. “I checked to see and, if you were to have those made today, they would cost more than $1 million each.”
Three of the windows never used at St. Clare remained in storage and available for sale.
St. Andrew's wall measuring 25 feet tall and the windows 32 feet, a decision was made to incorporate the top sections of the windows on each side of the crucifix with plans to install the remaining sections on the church's walls later.
July 7 saw work on Phase 1 near completion with Mass, which had been held in the gymnasium of adjacent St. Andrew Catholic School since May, scheduled to resume in the church the following week.
Parishioner Casey Patterson expressed excitement over stained-glass additions.
“They will be backlit, which I think will do a great job of framing Christ on the cross and making Him the focal point,” Patterson said. “I think they'll bring additional spiritual beauty into our church and enhance the experience of Mass.”
Patterson said his children attend St. Andrew school as did his wife and her father, who was a first-grade student when the school opened in 1954.
The new pastor of St. Andrew, Father Dan Pattee, TOR, joked that he and parishioners will be glad to forego the gym and return to the church.
“I think people will be excited once they see the renovations,” Fr. Pattee said. “These windows are beautiful works of art. You can't get craftsmanship like that anymore so we're fortunate to have had the opportunity to get these.”