Call for help was answered, and Civil War-era window has been restored.
Kent Kowalski (left) and Christopher Brennan, of Brennan's Stained Glass Studio in Syracuse, NY, bring in one of the pieces that have been restored for the Trinity United Church of Christ in Union Springs. On right is Scott Brennan. Union Springs, NY -- No one’s calling it a miracle, but tiny Trinity United Church of Christ’s prayers for help to restore its historic stained-glass window were answered — and then some.
Last March, the Union Springs church went public with its plea for financial aid. The Civil War-era window, which was given to the church in the late 1800s, was falling apart but the church lacked $25,000 to complete the restoration.
The church held fundraisers, solicited contributions from local foundations and received donations from the community and from people out of state who had read about the small congregation’s financial plight.
Before long, the church raked in almost $27,000, and the restored window — all 1,200 colorful pieces of it — was returned to its home this past week. The roughly 10- by-10-foot window is back on the west wall of the North Cayuga Street church.
“To get all the support we received was overwhelming. It puts tears in my eyes,” said Dean Tanner, vice chairman of the church board of directors.
This is one of the stained glass pieces for the Trinity United Church of Christ in Union Springs, NY.The arch-shaped window carries deep historic roots and pays tribute to this country’s military troops. The now-obsolete A.A. Hoff Post 494 Grand Army of the Republic donated the window to the church in memory of A.A. Hoff, a Union Springs-area resident who died of an illness in the Civil War, Tanner said.
A circular piece at the top of the window illustrates the American flag and the military Medal of Valor. Beneath the medal is a five-point star with the words “Grand Army of the Republic” and “Veteran” between the years “1861” and “1866.” Another portion of the window carries the words, “In memory of soldiers dead.”
Jennifer Greenleaf, of Falls Church, Va., had a personal stake in seeing the window restored. She is a distant relative of Hoff and she still has family members living near Union Springs.
“Knowing that it was a relative and knowing that the church needed help, it just felt it was the right thing to do,” said Greenleaf, who sent an undisclosed donation to the church.
Helping the church was never in doubt for members of the local American Legion post, said Debra Johnston, post commander.
“The church is a part of our community, so we felt we needed to help the church. And not only that, but the window had a lot to do ... with veterans. So our membership felt it was a worthy cause,” Johnston said.
The post donated $5,000 and would have given more if the church asked, she added.
Trinity United had drained its savings to get the project started with a $22,000 down payment. Donations continue to trickle in and the extra money received will be used to replenish the church savings, Tanner said.
The church hired Brennan Stained Glass Studio, of Syracuse, to restore the window. The company removed and cleaned each of the 1,200 pieces of glass, replaced broken fragments, rebuilt the window with new leading to lock the glass pieces together and built a new window frame at the church.
The new window will be more energy efficient, be protected from the weather and should last 100 years or more, said Scott Brennan, whose family owns the business.
“Every time we drive by, we can say we had a piece of that. That’s exciting,” Brennan said.
Exciting for Tanner and the 50 or so parishioners who belong to the church. Six months ago, Tanner said the church would pray for help to restore the window. Their prayers were answered — and then some.
--Contact Scott Rapp at srapp@syracuse.com or 289-4839.