Celebration and Re-Dedication

We were blessed to have the Right Reverend Jack Croneberger with us on Sunday, September 27. Together with Bishop Jack we celebrated the beauty of our restored Chancel windows. Following the service Prince of Peace family and friends enjoyed a time of fellowship and lunch.

Field Trip

Recently, I had the pleasure of spending a morning at Kasmark & Marshall's studio. Ben Kasmark & Malcom Kosek were gracious hosts and my visit was very educational. I was able to take some pictures and video of them explaining the repair process. (I'm sorry that the audio is not the greatest) I have had a lot of trouble getting this to upload BUT it seems to finally be working! Enjoy.

We will be celebrating the newly restored windows, along with Bishop Jack Croneberger, on Sunday, September 27. The service will be held at 9:00 am and a luncheon will be immediately following. If you would like to attend please RSVP to the church office princeofpeace@epix.net or 570.675.1723.

Thanks

First - I would like to say "Thank-You!" to each and every one who donated to the Restore the Glory campaign. Without your generosity we would not be able to complete these necessary repairs. We are blessed to have you as a friend or member of our parish family.

Second - "Thank You" to Kasmark & Marshall for the great job they did when they removed the windows. They were very so careful when working and did such a great job of cleaning up that you can hardly tell they were there. Well, the missing windows kind of give it away.

The Day After

Well all of the removal work is complete, the windows are gone; the scaffolding, tools, and dropcloths are cleaned up. Now we just wait. Wait for the talented artists at Kasmark & Marshall work their magic.

The main window openings have been covered/filled with a foam-board-type thing. I am including a few pictures. Also three of the four small windows in the doors have been removed for repair.

They Are All Out!

The end of Day 1 and all three windows are out. Tomorrow they will be back to put something in the windows to cut down on the amount of sun shining through them. I guess it wouldn't be much fun sitting in the pews on a Sunday morning when the sun is shining directly through into our eyes.

It's incredibly weird being in the church now, without the stained glass windows.

The Work Has Begun!

This morning (Tuesday July 28) Kasmark & Marshall began the process of removing the 3 Chancel windows.

They were nice enough to let me hang out with them for a while. I was a captive audience :-). By lunch time they had the first two windows out. Here are a few pictures.

They began by moving things away from the work area and setting up the scaffolding. It's amazing how quickly they can do this. Lots of practice!

More prep work, making sure to cover the altar and surrounding area.

The first section of window came out from here. The top right panel.

By lunch break the two side windows had been removed.

They removed each window by panels. I believe there are about 4 or 5 panels per window. The work is easier now than it was years ago. A hammer and chisel used to be used all the way around to remove the grout/putty. These days a handy dandy power tool makes the job a lot faster and easier.

Our windows were protected on the outside by two layers of clear storm windows.

Once the windows are removed they will be transported to Kasmark & Marshall's studio where they will repair and restore them. The work is expected to be complete by the beginning of September.

Bishop Jack Croneberger, Assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem, will be here on Sunday September 27 to bless and rededicate the restored windows. A celebration / luncheon will be held following the service.

An Update from Kasmark & Marshall

I received an email today from Kasmark & Marshall who will be doing the work on our windows. They will begin the work in the beginning of July and expect it take about 6 weeks to complete. They have also confirmed that I will be able to stop by the shop and take some pictures/videos of the work being done!

I'd like to pass along this note from Father Major about the Restore the Glory Campaign...

Thanks to the support and offerings of so many Prince of Peace parishioners and friends the restoration of the main stained-glass windows of the church will begin very soon! The work by the Kasmark and Marshall Company is tentatively scheduled to be completed by September. The $10,000 restoration project would simply not be possible without the donations recently offered during the Restore the Glory Campaign. Thank you to all who contributed to this necessary project and to all parishioners and friends who faithfully support and care for the mission and preservation and growth of Prince of Peace Church.

We very lucky to have a few businesses sponsor our project. While we are still looking for logos for some of them (if you are a sponsor and haven't given us one, please email me) you will notice some of them here on this blog. We appreciate their support of our window campaign and urge you to consider supporting their businesses.