Dear Parishioners and Visitors,
Many have inquired about the two missing stained-glass windows in the church building’s nave and narthex. A few factors contributed to the need for their removal, repair, and restoration. In a snow- and windstorm on January 16, 2022, two of the polymer shields that had been installed to insulate the church and to protect the stained-glass windows were blown off, exposing the two double-lancet stained-glass windows to the elements. A contractor and a professional artisan were consulted, and their assessment was that both windows had been suffering from “age and gravity” for a number of years, and that the structural integrity of the windows had been adversely affected in recent years by the reverberations from the church bell swinging back and forth in the tower above. In April, artisans from Artglass by Misci removed the windows, moving them to their workshops in Massachusetts, where they are undergoing a soaking procedure to remove old grout, cleaning, and reassembly of the glass components.
Despite the $22,800 repair and reinstallation estimate, these windows were memorial donations given to Saint Joseph Church in the early 1900s — one donated by the families of the loggers who worked at Camp 11, and the other donated by the parish’s Young Ladies Sodality — and they are an indispensable part of the church’s patrimony and the Catholic history of the Lincoln-Woodstock area.
We are hoping that the reinstallation of the windows will take place around Labor Day. In the meantime, please excuse the temporary particle board window coverings.
With prayerful best wishes,
Fr. John Mahoney