The Cupertino Courier

Cover Story

Related Artists: Pat Haeger (right) and her son, Marc, worked together to create the stained glass window at Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino.

Big Picture

Stained glass window is a revelation

By Kristine Medeiros

For more than two decades, light poured into the Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino through plain rectangular panels of colored glass.

The window, located in the front of the church auditorium, was also "without artistic merit," said the pastor, Bernard Bell.

So, when church board members decided the window should come out, the question was what would replace it.

For Bell, the idea of a design for the window that would be both artistic and theological came in an instant. "A dozen or so years of thought and interest came out in a five-minute sketch," he said.

Sketching quickly on a piece of paper, Bell envisioned the window with four vertical bays, each with panels illustrating the major themes of the Bible: creation, Israel, Jesus Christ, the church and heaven.

"The point of the stained glass window was to show the whole story of the Bible, so I called it the 'Big Picture,' " said Bell.

The next question was finding a stained glass artist who could fulfill Bell's vision. Enter Pat Haeger.

Haeger is a stained glass window artist who has been working in the profession since 1976 and started a business with her son, Marc, in 1986. The San Jose resident works throughout the United States, and she has even been approached to do some stained glass windows for churches in South America.

The Haegers complete stained glass windows for about five churches a year, and their work covers all religions.

"As artists we like to make art and are not on a mission to change people and their beliefs," said Pat Haeger. "We wouldn't refuse any type of church because of their religious background."

The Peninsula Bible Church, which is nondenominational, took over the building at 10601 N. Blaney Ave. in 1984. Its members come from Cupertino, Sunnyvale, San Jose, Los Altos, Saratoga and Los Gatos. About 80 percent of them live within five to eight miles of the church. There is also a Peninsula Bible Church Willow Glen in San Jose and in Palo Alto.

Bell met with Haeger about the window project in spring 2006. He was impressed.

"She was everything we had been looking for in an artist in that she was not only talented with an impressive portfolio but also personable and not affiliated with a large corporation," Bell said.

After meeting with Haeger, Bell drew a bigger and fuller conceptual design with a color scheme and presented it to the board. The board members liked the design but were skeptical that what had been drawn could be artistically represented. But they agreed to let Haeger do a pencil sketch. Her sketch, said Bell, "blew me away, because I knew immediately she had caught it."

Haeger then did a color drawing of the window. The board approved the design in July of 2006. Bell gave some basic guidelines about the colors and design, and Haeger went to work. The drawings were done after Christmas and then Marc Haeger started crafting the window, which took all of January and two weeks of February.

The faceted glass windows are made of thick colored glass set in resin or concrete rather than the traditional lead. The term faceted refers to the fact that the glass is chipped along the edges of each piece for a brighter effect. Fairly large pieces are used, and the glass is broken to the proper size and shape.

"Looking at it in the studio you can see a lot of glass and a lot of epoxy, but the power comes from the inside. When the light comes in from the 1-inch glass, it expands and all of that epoxy disappears," Pat Haeger explained.

The window stands at 131Ž2 feet wide and 25 feet high at its peak. The faceted glass panels, each 3 feet wide and 2 feet high, weigh about 10 pounds per square foot.

Haeger said she is proud of the window because "it is the ultimate in faceted glass and is exactly how it ought to be in terms of technique and cutting skills."

An array of sweeping colors with blues, oranges, yellows, greens and magenta fill the panels along with a variety of intricate details depicting the most important stories of the Bible. It is all tied together by a large red cross that starts at the top of the window and stretches to the bottom.

"My hope is that [the window] will help form and shape an understanding of the Bible and the great story to be told and be something that can be passed on to children," Bell said.

Bell's study of religious art and religious symbolism is evident in the elements of the window. A dove represents the Holy Spirit; the lamb, Jesus Christ. Hands reaching toward the planet Earth signify peace and reconciliation among nations.

One of the most interesting features of the window is a rainbow that starts at the top of the window and connects the four stages of the panels. It pours into the final panel, which represents heaven. "It is really striking," said Bell.

Church members got their first look at the window when they walked in for morning service on March 4.

Bell told the congregation at each of the three services that day to do their best not to look at the window and instead concentrate on the service.

Church members, however, could not keep their eyes off the window and were speculating what it meant even after the service.

"At first, I was nervous because I wasn't sure what to expect of the new window," said church member Valerie Brown. "I had gotten used to the old one and was afraid the new one would be cheesy. However, when I saw it, I thought it was just beautiful and found myself staring at it the whole ceremony."

Likewise, church member Chad Hale thought the window was "fantastic and much better than the last."

"I think it's a good refresher and does a nice job of displaying God's entire plan," said Jim Shuma.

His wife Toni added, "It's nice because you don't immediately see everything at once, which makes it different from other stained glass windows."

The office hours at Peninsula Bible Church are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and Bell hopes people will come and visit.

"People are welcome to come by to see the window, and of course, they're welcome to come to our services on Sunday mornings," he said.

"The window is visible as you pass on Blaney. It looks very different; it's hard to figure out what the design is,'' Bell added. "Perhaps this will pique people's interest so they come in and look."

Sunday services at Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino are held at 8, 9:45 and 11:30 a.m. For more information, call 408.366.6690 or e-mail info@pbcc.org.