Stained Glass Windows: An Essay: With a Report to the Vestry on Stained Glass Windows for Grace Church Lockport New York — A Reader’s Guide

A Dual Purpose: Essay and Parish Report

The pamphlet’s structure reflects its twin audiences. The first part is a general essay tracing the evolution of stained glass from Norman round-arched windows through Gothic tracery, drawing on authorities such as Mrs. Van Rensselaer and the designer William Warrington. Faber emphasizes that glass must remain “absolutely subservient” to architecture, a principle he applies to Grace Church’s own Gothic-revival building. The second part, the report to the vestry, documents eleven windows and three mosaics installed under his supervision. Faber notes that the “adopted scheme has been followed, with results more and more obviously satisfactory.” This dual format allows him to move from broad historical principles to specific local decisions, grounding abstract ideas in material choices.

The Language of Materials and Craft

Faber’s prose is precise when describing technical matters. He writes of “plate-traceried” windows, “mullions,” and the “sweep of the great window” that fuses multiple lights into “organic beauty.” His vocabulary reflects a close engagement with the physical making of windows: he discusses the difficulties eleventh-century pioneers faced with “defective materials” and the slow mastery of color and leadwork. At the same time, he is alert to the economic and social pressures on church art. The phrase “epidemic of stained glass” captures his concern that fashion, not devotion, drives many commissions. Faber’s tone shifts between scholarly exposition and pastoral caution, a blend that gives the text its particular character.

Pace and Persuasion in the Report

The report to the vestry moves at a different pace from the historical essay. Where the essay unfolds chronologically, tracing centuries of stylistic change, the report is succinct and practical, listing completed windows and noting that the scheme has been “followed” consistently. Faber’s earlier warning about commercial rivalry gives way to a quieter confidence: the results speak for themselves. The pamphlet’s closing note, dated All Saints’ 1900, reveals that the first edition (1897) was “exhausted” and a second demanded—evidence that Faber’s arguments found an audience. The shift from general anxiety to local accomplishment mirrors the arc of the text itself, from broad critique to specific, realized project.

Readers approaching this work should attend to its dual nature: it is both a historical primer and a case study in ecclesiastical decision-making. Faber’s voice—learned, cautious, occasionally wry—shapes the argument as much as his facts do. The pamphlet rewards those interested in how aesthetic principles are translated into practice, especially within the constraints of a single parish. Faber does not claim to have solved the tensions between art and fashion, but he offers a model of how one congregation attempted to do so with integrity.