Thank You!
All the funds needed to restore the windows have been donated.
Work has started! Watch here for updates to the project.
All the funds needed to restore the windows have been donated.
Work has started! Watch here for updates to the project.
Stained Glass Window Restoration Project
The stained glass windows in the sanctuary of Christ Lutheran Church both create a beautiful worship environment as well as attest to the history of the congregation. According to the 125th Anniversary history book "The art glass windows were in the process of being purchased by the end of 1943 and were installed and dedicated in April, 1944" After nearly 80 years these windows need to be restored to maintain their structure and beauty.
We will be working with the company Architectural Glassarts out of Lincoln who will remove the windows from the sanctuary two at a time, re-lead and frame them, bring them back and reinstall them with new plate glass on the outside. The whole project will cost around $30,000 and we are seeking donations to fund this important work, either through direct giving or via pledge (see sheet below).
To contribute to the stained glass restoration project you can mail a check to:
Christ Lutheran Church
15616 84th St
Louisville, NE 68037
or you can give online by clicking the Give Now! button
be sure to designate the gift to "stained glass windows" either on the memo line of your check or under the giving category.
Thank you for supporting this project.
The stained glass windows in the sanctuary of Christ Lutheran Church both create a beautiful worship environment as well as attest to the history of the congregation. According to the 125th Anniversary history book "The art glass windows were in the process of being purchased by the end of 1943 and were installed and dedicated in April, 1944" After nearly 80 years these windows need to be restored to maintain their structure and beauty.
We will be working with the company Architectural Glassarts out of Lincoln who will remove the windows from the sanctuary two at a time, re-lead and frame them, bring them back and reinstall them with new plate glass on the outside. The whole project will cost around $30,000 and we are seeking donations to fund this important work, either through direct giving or via pledge (see sheet below).
To contribute to the stained glass restoration project you can mail a check to:
Christ Lutheran Church
15616 84th St
Louisville, NE 68037
or you can give online by clicking the Give Now! button
be sure to designate the gift to "stained glass windows" either on the memo line of your check or under the giving category.
Thank you for supporting this project.
Stained Glass Windows and A Story of Devotion
(Story first appeared as a history moment bulletin insert in 2015 as part of the 125th anniversary celebration)
Louis and Emma (Hild) Friedrich lived on the family farm just south of the Church on the east side of the road, the place with the long winding lane. From 1909 to 1919, their four children had been born there, Verner, Hilda, Malinda and Wilma. The farm and the children flourished, but Emma, their mother, did not. In the 1920's Emma became ill to the point that the eldest daughter Hilda at age 14 volunteered to stay home from school to take care of her mother and help on the farm. As the years past, the children married and lived within a four-mile radius (as the crow flies) of the home place, with Wilma and husband Joe Puls living with her parents.
In the early 1940's plan were being made to purchase stained glass windows for the Church and Emma was excited. The Church was very important to Emma and she and Louis started to plan how they could buy one of the windows. The family decided to use farm money (part of their operating capital) to fund one window. Later that spring, the stained glass windows arrived by train in Plattsmouth and were scheduled to be delivered to the Church by truck. Fearing for the safety of the windows, the men of the Church brought the windows from Plattsmouth to the Church via horse and wagon.
Emma so dearly wanted to see the window, but was too sick to journey less than a mile to the Church. Since the windows weren't installed yet, Luis' common sense gave way to his devotion to Emma and he decided he would bring the window to his beloved wife. Louis hooked up the team of horses to the wagon and filled the wagon with straw. He then drove to the Church and put the window in the back of the wagon on the bed of straw. He drove the team back to the house and was able to hold the stained glass window up outside of Emma's window so she could see it. Emma was delighted!
Early that summer, daughter Wilma called sister Hilda saying mother had turned gravely ill. The roads were too muddy to travel by car so Hilda rode a horse from the Kraeger homestead roughly 2 miles through the fields and pastures to see her dying mother. Emma died that same day, June 1, 1944 at age 60. Wilma later recalled that the stained glass windows had meant the world to her mother; she felt their beauty would make the Church complete. Wilma knew her mother died in peace knowing how beautiful the windows had turned out.