This week I am beginning work on the wooden frames that operate as functional stops that hold the stained glass panes in place (see second post for pictures of stops in place). The stops were removed along with the stained glass windowpanes back in August. They have been stabilized with epoxy and are now ready for fine detail work. Before that can happen, all of the stops must be photographed and notes on their condition must be taken so that future generations will know what was done to them. Here are a few shots of my documentation process.

 

Also, the church will be renting a boom lift to complete an investigation of the terracotta to locate buried metal. The metal anchors that hold the blocks together have corroded and are potentially the cause of many of the cracks. By mapping the metal and surrounding cracks we can determine the validity of a causal relationship and begin to find ways to address the problems. I have included two images from the National Terracotta Society’s 1914 manual that illustrate the types of metal we are hoping to find.

For several months scaffolding was erected in sanctuary to allow for access for investigations of the rose window. It was determined to be no longer necessary and Mike Oades and his team were able to take down the scaffolding. . The timing was fortuitous because every seat in the sanctuary was needed for last Thursday’s Momastery event.

Momastery aka Glennon Doyle Melton packed the sanctuary full of women who came together for an evening to share their stories and their struggles. After an hour meet and greet Glennon spoke about her story, the origins of her new book, and her relationship with the United Church of Christ. She explained the draw to her UCC community as ‘finally finding a place where love and the church reached out to everyone.’

Glennon Doyle Melton is one of many illustrious authors and speakers that First Church has hosted over the years. Past lecturers include Dr. Edward Krehbiel, a Stanford history professor and member of Wilson’s post-war peace settlement working group, in 1918, the scientist who discovered the charge of an electron and Nobel Prize winner Dr. R. A. Millikan in 1923, Russian royalty and UCLA professor Prince Andre Lobanoff Rostovsky in 1933, and many many more.

We look forward to more lectures that bring current subjects to the forefront and make the First Congregational Church a meeting place for not only religious but also intellectually and emotionally challenging discussions.

This week the preservation team put together a new encasement for the Koinonia room. This one features a teardrop window that was removed from the east rose window. In it you can find examples of almost every kind of damage inflicted on the panes: cracking, broken pieces, soft/bent leading, chips, losses, a poorly constructed patch, and several BB gun holes to top it off.

 

In honor of the windows currently under restoration, here is a bit more information about the creator of our stained glass windows, Joseph Evan Mackay. Many thanks to Bob Kalayjian who spent countless hours putting together such a wonderful trove of information!

 

Joseph Evan Mackay was a Scottish emigrant born in the 1864 who moved to New York City in 1884. He worked with John LaFarge for three years until he began working at Tiffany Glass and Decorating Company. His time at Tiffany was tumultuous. He later sued the company in 1897 for a $17,000 commission he had earned.[1] It is unknown whether or not he was successful in his suit.

By the early 1900’s he had moved to San Francisco where he began to distinguish himself by diverging from traditional European iconography and including Western naturalistic imagery. He left the bay area after a few years and moved down to Los Angeles. In 1905 the Los Angeles Times reported a strike at his warehouse over his hiring of a Japanese glassmaker he knew from his time at Tiffany in New York.[2]

 

 

 

His liberal politics must have endeared him to the relatively young First Congregational Church of Long Beach. He was hired in 1913 to design all of the stained glass and interior spaces. He continued creating art glass in California until his death in 1938. He is buried in Beverly Hills.

[1] Paint, oil and drug review Vol. 24 No. 1. July 7, 1897 Chicago: D. Van Ness Pub. Co.

[2] “Wouldn’t work with any Jap.” The Los Angeles Times. August, 13, 1905. [Los Angeles, Calif.]: Times-Mirror Co.