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Feb 13, 2013 | Joal Donovan

The Miracle of Trinity's Broken Window

Churches age, just like people. Their bodies start falling apart. They begin to sag. Gravity and (in the case of my parish) Gulf-coast humidity take a toll on them.

 

Trinity Episcopal Church, in Galveston, Texas, was built before the Civil War. It had weathered many storms. And, time after distressing time, it was repaired, restored, brought back to its original grace. However, even though we have been faithful stewards of the old building, it is literally crumbling into bits. A restoration architect was hired; a building committee was created; and a study was made of all the problems that need addressing if our building is to survive.

 

The results were overwhelming. The tower was unsafe. The building was structurally unsound. Even the enormous Tiffany window above the altar needed to be removed and restored, as its glass was too heavy for its metal framework, and it was in danger of collapsing.

 

The estimated restoration costs were enormous. With a shrinking congregation, who was going to pay for them? Fundraising began, but the pledges were painfully shy of the goal.

 

And then… on September 13, 2008, Hurricane Ike blew in. Ike flooded ninety percent of Galveston structures, including old Trinity Church. But, even more of a shock, a section of the Tiffany window had been blown out, weakened no doubt by the necessary removal of a protective covering in preparation for shipping the window off to the Hauser Stained Glass studio for restoration. Without that covering, a large section of the window was broken, scattering shards of glass over the altar, the floor, and into the choir stalls.

 

Read the rest of the story at cpg.org