Holy Trinity
Episcopal Church

December 1999

The stained-glass windows depicting the Stations of the Cross were
installed on December 17–18, 1999, and were dedicated by The Rt. Rev. Larry E. Maze, 12th Bishop of Arkansas, and The Rev. James R. McLean, Jr., rector of Holy Trinity, in a special ceremony on March 9, 2000.

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2007

The large stained-glass windows " He Is Risen" above the altar were installed and dedicated in 2007.

 

January 2024

Holy Trinity began raising funds to create and install two stained-glass windows - “The Incarnation” over the sanctuary door and “The Entry” over the outside entrance to the sanctuary narthex. These two windows were designed to complete all the upper windows in the sanctuary that illustrate important moments in the life of Jesus Christ from His Birth in a stable to His Resurrection as symbolized by the empty tomb in the stained-glass windows over the altar.

February 2025

Enough funds had been raised to complete the stained-
glass window project. The windows were installed at the end of July. Six
spotlights were added to illuminate “The Incarnation” windows at night.

 

The Memorial Plaque

A memorial plaque with the names of the contributors to the windows and
their dedications was placed on the back wall of the sanctuary under “The
Incarnation” window.

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Christmas Eve 2025 Consecration of the Incarnation Window

At the beginning of the 2025 Christmas Eve service, Fr. Keith consecrated
the windows. At the end of the service, as the sanctuary lights were
dimmed and the congregation held candles and sang Silent Night, “The
Incarnation” window was highlighted with the spotlights, creating a very
moving experience for the congregation.

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More on THE INCARNATION window

Holy Trinity is fortunate that Roberta Katz-Messenger, the artist for the
windows installed in 1999 and 2007, was available to create the new
stained-glass windows in 2025.

 

“The Incarnation” is in the style of the “He Is Risen” window over the Holy Trinity altar by using the same scale of the characters and the same color tones.

 

The characters in the window include the Holy Family, the angel as portrayed in the “He Is Risen” window, shepherds and several sheep, two doves, a mother hen with her chick, and stable animals.

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The star is above the angel at the peak of the left triangle.
In the peak of the right triangle, three camels with the three Kings can be
seen in the distance following the star.

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In the late afternoon when the setting sun is in the right position, the
sunlight passes through the opalescent glass of the star, angel and The
Christ Child in “The Incarnation” window and focuses three lights on Holy
Trinity’s altar cross. In this light, the large wooden cross appears to be
silver.

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THE ENTRY WINDOWS

The windows over the entry to the sanctuary narthex have two symbols —
Holy Trinity’s insignia of three circles and a triangle and IHS with a cross.
IHS is a Christogram representing the Greek word for Jesus.

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The background material is opalescent glass which shows color in all light
situations. It is the same type of glass that was used for the discarded
shroud on the tomb in the “He Is Risen” window over the altar. The
background is off-white streaked with amber. The thin strips are a darker
amber with red highlights. The IHS symbol is gold with a blue background.
The circles and triangle of the Holy Trinity symbol are gold and bronze with
a background of green, amber, and red.

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THE DESIGNER: ROBERTA KATZ-MESSENGER

The windows were designed by Mrs. Roberta Katz-Messenger of Pentacle Studio in Clinton, Ark. Mrs. Katz-Messenger was influenced in her design by the woodcuts of Clemens Schmidt in the book The Way of the Cross, published by the Order of St. Benedict’s Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minn.

Holy Trinity is fortunate that Roberta Katz-Messenger, the artist for the windows installed in 1999 and 2007, was available to create the new stained-glass windows in 2025.