Windows of Faith

Adorning our sanctuary are a variety of stained glass windows depicting sacred symbols of people from many lands and faiths. At their dedication on May 1, 1993, Reverend Marjorie Montgomery said of our windows:

I call these beautiful windows, made by the Rev. John Trantham, "Windows of Faith." They reveal what men and women of many lands and many times have decided is holy.  And they call us to think for ourselves about what WE shall decide is most holy, about what we shall have faith in, and about how we shall order our lives.

At front of our sanctuary we display the chalice of Unitarian Universalism enclosed in a Native American ZIA. The four-rayed sun, or ZIA, was a symbol first used by Native Americans of the Zia Pueblos in north central New Mexico.  The four rays stand for: (top) the four winds, (left) the four seasons, (right) the four parts of each day by which we order our daily life (morning, afternoon, evening and night), (bottom_ the four stages of human life (childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age). In the center of the Zia is the Unitarian Universalist Flaming Chalice.  A bright flame stands for the individual life, and for our passionate, fiery quest for knowledge and for justice.  The flame that rises from a chalice stands for community.  A nurturing community is the cradle of fulfilled individuals.  Concepts that are holy to Unitarian Universalists are freedom and responsibility, reason and feeling, tolerance and discernment.

Select any ICON from the margins to find out more about its religious symbolism (a new window will open)