Feed My Lambs
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Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep…whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. (John 10:7, 9 NIV)
The beauty of stained glass has been used for hundreds of years to illustrate scenes from the Holy Bible. Trinity is most fortunate to have several wonderfully crafted examples in the sanctuary which came to us through the generosity of fellow Christians, both within and outside our congregation.
The large, 10’ x 18’, stained glass window which adorns the front of Trinity’s sanctuary depicts Christ as the “Good Shepherd” carrying a lamb and followed by a flock of sheep. The “Good Shepherd” window is based on the famous painting by German artist Bernard Plockhorst (1825-1907). It references “I am the Good Shepherd”. (John 10:11) The image of the Good Shepherd reminds us of the faithfulness and love of God. He will never leave us and he will never cease trying to find us and bring us home no matter how far we stray from the fold. The medallion with the crown of life is from Revelation 2:10, “Be thou faithful unto death and I will give you a crown of life.”
The window was originally owned by St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Davenport, Iowa, and purchased at a public auction in Davenport on April 17, 1999. It was carefully crated and transported to Marlborough, NH, where it remained in storage for 10 years.
Trinity has four smaller stained glass windows on either side of our sanctuary which were originally part of the First Baptist Church on lower Court Street, in Keene. In January 1966 a new, more modern facility was built on Maple Avenue, directly across from our existing building. The windows from the original Baptist church weren’t used in the new construction and were placed in storage. In May of 1999, one month after the purchase of the “Good Shepherd” window, the members of the Baptist Church voted to gift their four stained glass windows to Trinity, with the stipulation that they be used in our sanctuary when we built.
In 2011 we were planning our new church here on Maple Avenue in Keene. Many years had passed since the windows were made, and time had taken its toll on the wooden framework. Restoration was needed, and after much research it was decided to have Kingsland Company of Norwalk, CT create all new mahogany frames. The newly restored frames and stained glass windows were installed in Trinity’s new sanctuary on November 27, 2012.