The “Miracle Window” that entrances the congregation at the Heart of Longmont United Methodist Church needs some earthly repair work to keep shining for the next several years.
To fix panels bowed by over 60 years of heat on the roughly 30-by-16 foot stained glass window is estimated to cost $32,000, said church official Karl Scott. Replacing the entire window would likely run $450,000, Scott said.
Members of the 150-year-old church were stunned at the appraisal. The church is likely to move ahead with the panel repair for the window, at least for now, Scott said.
“I am just trying to preserve it so it lasts a little longer,” he said.
The window, located in the west balcony of the church, was designed by Christian artist and art consultant Ludwig Schremer to express the Holy Trinity in vivid colors and designs. They include a hand and triangle to symbolize God and a red heart shape as a symbol of life. A lamb represents the gift of God and a dove, the Holy Sanctifier, according to a church history of the window.
All of the symbols are surrounded by a purple circle to remind worshipers “that three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are one God, one Unity, our Lord of Heaven,” the church history states.
Installed on Nov. 22, 1959 on Conscrecation Day, the window stunned church-goers.
“Attendees at the Consecration service, who did not expect to see the stained glass window, proclaimed ‘it’s a miracle!’ Thus, that window has been named ``The Miracle Window,” the history states.
“It’s simply beautiful to me,” said long-time Methodist church congregant Nancy Hand.
The window required 1,000 pieces to complete and the glass will not fade nor peel because it is made of genuine European mouth-blown antique glass. At the time of its construction it was the only hand-made glass in the world, the history states.
Still, time and heat is taking its toll on the window, Scott said. Lead and glass expands and contracts as it responds to the outside environment, he said.
The church also put a Plexiglass shield over the window to protect it after someone shot at the glass with a BB gun. “They left a few holes in the window,” Scott said. “That’s the way things are I suppose.”
Schremer, the designer of the glass, had a studio in St. Paul, MN. Schremer hurried up the window shipment, going through two custom houses and two brokers to usher the window to Longmont for its installment, the church history states. He supervised workers late into Saturday night to complete the window for the Sunday service.
No one at the church could say why Schremer was so connected to the Longmont church.
Church historian Ann Yoder said in an email that only the beauty of the “Miracle Window” matters.
“The window is quite a masterpiece for our church — and the community,” Yoder said.
People wanting to donate for the window repairs can go to https://heartoflongmont.org or send funds to Heart of Longmont, 350 11th Ave, Longmont, CO, 80501.
