CRESTVIEW — Whether through jewel-like radiance or soft pastels' peaceful glow, many of the city's faithful find the gospel's comfort merges with art in their churches' stained glass windows.
"The stained glass is what the people who were children growing up in this church remember most," First Baptist Church custodian Rodney Salisbury said.
Local churches' stained glass artistry can be abstract, traditional or somewhere in between, as is the case of First Baptist.
There, the old sanctuary's mid-20th-century modern-style windows combine rectangular panes with Biblical symbols set in the center, contrasting with the windowless new sanctuary.
Some couples specifically ask to be married in the old sanctuary — now used as a performance hall — because of the windows, Salisbury said.
HISTORY IN GLASS
While the new Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church sanctuary more comfortably accommodates the 107-year-old church's expanding congregation, for older members, the old sanctuary holds the most memories.
Its eight simple stained glass windows made in Georgia serve as mini history lessons. Each is dedicated to an old church family that donated funds for them. The dedication panels are set below round central panes depicting Bible imagery and symbols.
A couple of blocks away, the 1905 Mount Zion African Methodist Episcopal has 14 windows produced in the 1980s by the same company.
"They're made by hand," Mount Zion Deacon Elbert Jones said. "It took 'em about six months to make them."
Again, the gentle glow of the neutral surrounding panels accentuates the bold central symbols above the dedication panels.
OUT OF ORDER
First Presbyterian Church shares its centennial in 2016 with the city, though its current home was built in the 1960s on the site of the original Gothic style church.
A member of the church purchased its 1960s stained glass windows years ago at an auction.
The Rev. Mark Broadhead, the church's pastor, laments that the panels were hung out of order. The crucifixion, for example, is immediately preceded by Mary and Joseph saving the infant Jesus from the slaughter of the innocents.
"We really need to fix that," Broadhead said. "It bugs me."
SERMON IN ART
One of the city's largest stained glass windows fills the rear of the First United Methodist Church sanctuary.
"It is not a kite from outer space!" late congregation member and Sunday school teacher John McMahon once said. "It is a sermon in art."
For members of the congregation who might otherwise be distracted from the service to admire the artistry, it, like the stained glass side lights, each dedicated to a saint, can only be seen when viewed from the front of the church.
The church's Christ Chapel, however, is lined with traditionally designed windows, each depicting Jesus by his many names, including "the Alpha and Omega," the "Resurrection and the Life," and "the Doorway."
Behind the altar, Christ is depicted as a shepherd lovingly tending his flock.
Not prominent, however, are the windows preserved from the original 1920s First Methodist Church when it was on North Wilson Street. They can be found in the stairwell near the fellowship hall.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview churches share the gospel through stained glass (PHOTOS)