The Windows of St. James

ity created, in the ateliers of Luxfer Studio, Toronto; N.T. Lyon Co., Ottawa and Colonial Art Glass Co., Toronto. Glass of luminosity and intensity of colour: ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green, turquoise and amber. Glass translucent, opalescent, sand blasted and painted, depicting scenes and themes from the Bible.

Each window a testament to the love of those remembered: paper hanger, Rector, carriage maker, merchant, innkeeper, miller, school teacher, distiller – their names part of the story of the community – Lewis, Guy, Barnes, Harris, Poole, Perry, Bower, Anderson, Stephenson.

a full and meaningful life.

Parenting is a huge responsibility. It takes a back seat to nothing else. It's critically important. What is a parent's most important responsibility,.after keeping their children healthy and safe? Teaching, modeling how to be a good person? In addition to being a life-long learner, showing their children why the rules and laws of society should be not only examined, but followed.

6. Be mindful of the consequences of all your actions and recognize that you must take responsibility for them.

Young children think that by saying, 'I didn't mean it', they get a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card. Nope, Nope, Nope. What they have to be taught is responsibility. 'You did it, the results are yours.' Many adults never get this lesson learned properly (another day of school skipped, perhaps?). So, before one acts, one should consider the possible outcomes, right?

7. Treat others as you would want them to treat you. Think about their perspective.

The good ol' Golden Rule, right? It's still 'golden'. Ah, but the second part: there's the fly in the ointment. I think we are talking about 'compassion and empathy' here. Along with honesty, these are two of the most important personality traits/characteristics that we should be impressing upon our children, according to my saintly mother. Adults that have these in great measure make wonderful friends, those without them... well, perhaps they join sketchy political organizations and generate conspiracy theories....yes? No?

Member of Parliament. Andrew John Kerr, a Captain of the Kemptville Fire Brigade, and James Raymond Eager, farmer and choir member. Both died from Spanish Influenza in the epidemic of 1918/1919.

All memorial stained glass windows, no matter how beautiful, are infused with sadness; none more so than the small window to the north of the altar, which remembers the heartbreak and tragedy of the deaths of high school student Freda Jones to typhoid in 1909 and of her brother, McGill medical student Norman Jones, who drowned in 1910.

8. We have the responsibility to consider others, including future generations.

Imagine for a minute, those people who drive around in their enormous motor-homes, towing a car, as they head off to 'Inflict themselves' upon the North American continent. They might as well have written in huge letters on the side of their house-on-wheels their philosophy about sharing, compassion, empathy: ‘After me, all the rest of you can come first. See ya, suckers!'

9. There is no one right way to live.

As I just pointed out, there is certainly a wrong way to live; or a multitude of wrong ways to live. And bol of the Holy Spirit, and Man, Lion, Bull and Eagle – symbols of the four evangelists, a gift in 1882 from the teachers and scholars of Robert Leslie’s St. James Sunday School. yes, surely, there are many right ways to live. For some, perhaps, the difficulty arises when they can't differentiate between the two.

10. Leave the world a better place than you found it.

Number 10 pretty much summarizes the previous 3 points. Eleanor Roosevelt said: 'Great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events, small minds discuss people.' Making those around you better by influencing them with your thoughts on ideas... on possibilities... possibilities about how to make things better, will make the world and your small community a better place than it was before. I think the 10 non-commandments are as worthy of consideration as the better know 10....keeping in mind that, God is Great, Beer is Good, and People are Crazy. Thank you for the song and the title, Billy Cunningham.

by Doug Macdonald

On July 25, 1880, St.

James the Archdeacon Patton Memorial Church, designed by distinguished Canadian Architect William Tutin Thomas, was officially opened. On that Sunday, the nave and sanctuary were flooded with sunlight from 28 windows of clear glass set in deep window wells.

(Two of those original windows are stored in the church basement.)

Gradually, over the following decades, the clear glass windows were replaced by memorial windows of stained glass.

Glass of the highest qual-

People like Squire William H. Bottum, heir to Crown Land Grants, Kemptville’s first Post Master and the man who donated land for the 1827 St. James Church and cemetery. Elizabeth (Bell) Ferguson, mother of G. Howard Ferguson, a Premier of Ontario, and her husband, Dr. Charles Frederick Ferguson,

The largest window, the magnificent Stannage Triptych, three windows above the Altar, depicts the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. It is a memorial to John Stannage the sixth Rector of St. James, the man credited with the building of his “little cathedral”, the current St. James.

High on the west wall, the glorious circular “rose” window, with the white dove – sym-

As most of the stained glass windows are nearly 100 years old, and some more than 130 years, they were in serious need of conservation work. Led by Robert Porter, a team of volunteers: Tim Aubin, David Brent, Jim Chapman, David Finney, Kate McLean, Dan Spring and John Tilbury, did the majority of the work. On scaffold and ladder, the team began restoration of the window frames; first removing protective grills, scraping layers of old paint, repairing damaged wood, sanding, priming, painting and caulking. Weakened areas of stained glass was stabilized. The exterior surface of the glass delicately cleaned to removed decades of grime. Finally, precisely cut ¼ inch clear plexiglass covers were fixed to the wood frame. In all, a daunting and, despite the labour of the volunteers, an expensive project.

2026 will be the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Pioneer Mission Parish of St. James. 2027, the 200th anniversary of the building of the original St. James in Clothier’s Mill/Kemptville; and, in 2030, the heritage building that is St. James will celebrate 150 years since its official opening on July 25, 1880. Maintenance deferred puts heritage at risk, for time and the elements are not friends of architectural masterworks. The completed windows now glow as they did decades ago. Let the success of this initiative be the inspiration for work required on roof and limestone walls of St. James.