In March St. Joseph Church saw the return of one of its stained glass windows that was taken in the later part of last year to be used as a standard for a process that will eventually see all the stained glass windows refurbished.
Windows in the church will be restored as history of the windows and special efforts to bring them back to their original beauty is being taken by St. Joseph. The primary challenge has been locating exact matches to glass made more than 100 years ago.
Father Ray Brenner, Pastor of St. Joseph shared what it will cost to restore nearly 20 windows in the church….
Funding for the project is from the Stewards of God’s Grace Campaign. The campaign was a joint effort of the diocese of Evansville and Saint Joseph Catholic Church.
Representatives for Conrad Schmitt studios of New Berlin, Wisconsin were at Saint Joseph Catholic Church, in March as they returned and installed a restored stained glass window, preparing for the next step in the restoration project.
Heading the restored window installation at St. Joe’s for Conrad Schmitt Studios was Kevin Slager.
He explains the process of finding the details that have faded over time.
The lancet in the window was replaced. The ability to see the pattern of paint that has faded over time is made possible by a reflective light technique.
The restored pane next to the un-restored window will allow a chance for parishioners to see what the windows will look like when finished.
The current windows in St. Joe’s Church in Jasper originally installed in 1898 have never been replaced and are thought to be two decades past the general life expectancy of windows from the turn of the century.
