"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." 1 Cor. 2:2

As one walks into the sanctuary, one beholds the central theme running through all four windows: The stained glass windows proclaim Christ and Him crucified and the Means by which He comes to us: Word and Sacrament.

The thought process behind the designs was quite simple, really. The scripture passage quoted above was the inspiration to make the cross the base design on each window. The name of our church: "Christ Our Savior Lutheran" was the other inspiration.

The "IHS" and "XP" windows:

The symbol for "Christ" is the "ChiRho", a combination of the first two letters, X and P, in the name Christ in Greek, the language of the New Testament.

The meaning of the name "Jesus" is "helper" or "savior" and the symbol for the name "Jesus" is the "IHS", the first three letters I, H and S, in the name Jesus in Greek.

Since the symbols IHS and XP in essence spell our church's name: "Christ Our Savior", they were an obvious choice.

The "Word and Sacrament" windows:

Since Christ chose to come to us and bring His grace and mercy through the means of His Word, and the Sacraments He instituted, it only follows that these would be the theme of the two central windows. Christ and the salvation He won for mankind on the cross is center to Holy Scripture.

Both windows depict an open bible, proclaiming Christ the Crucified and Christ the Alpha and Omega (Rev. 1:8). The open bibles signify the importance of reading and hearing the Word of God which is the power of God for salvation to every one who believes. (Rom. 1:16)

Through the bread and the wine of the Sacrament of the Altar, depicted in the window by the chalice and host, grapes and ears of wheat, Christ, our Savior, gives us His broken Body and His Blood shed on the cross for the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. Through this holy meal, He also strengthens our faith and gives us strength to live a God-pleasing, Christian life. "The blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)

Through the water of the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, depicted in the window by the shell and three droplets of water, Christ, our Savior, washes us clean from our sins, declares us God's children and heirs of His heavenly kingdom and grants us the gift of the Holy Spirit, depicted by the dove and flames in the window. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved." (Mark 16:16)

The light rays:

Each window has yellow light rays running from the inner top corners to the bottom outer corners. The source of this light is designed to seem to originate from the upper space between the inner windows. Into this space a large cross was hung on the wall. Therefore it seems as though the light originates from above the cross and the cross itself. God the Father, our Creator is the source of all light and all life, and Jesus is the light of the world. (John 8:12)

The artists:

The windows were manufactured by Denise Daigh of Daylite Stained Glass Studio, Driggs, Idaho. Website: daylitestainedglass.com.

The windows were designed by Heidi Paul of Christ Our Savior. They were then submitted to Denise Daigh who converted the designs to stained glass window designs and manufactured them. Heidi had a lot of fun picking out the colors and textures out of the hundreds of possibilities to get the desired overall "look" for the stained glass windows. She remarks: "Denise is a joy to work with and she does an excellent, professional job."