St. Mathew’s in Ozark is looking for a new home for a large stained glass window picturing the ascending Christ, ‘Come all, to me’ by Pepe Mendez. Dedicated to ‘Ana and Louis Macioce and Bertha and Arch Via,’ the window was donated to the Church of the Ascension in Springfield by the Macioce family and installed in 1971. Ascension closed on February 10, 2012, and the window has been in storage since its removal.
For many years, St. Matthew’s, Ozark has been the custodian of the window, planning to use the window in a new church building. It spent several years in Mtr. Anne Cheffey’s barn then moved to a lockup used by St. Matthew’s. Fr. Chandler Jackson, Priest in Charge at St. Matthew’s, said rising storage costs meant that the church had cleared out their storage unit, and as they now share worship space with Ozark Presbyterian church, they no longer had a use for the window.
The window is 10-12 feet tall by 6-8 feet wide, comprising seven panels, and is available free to a good home.
A letter from the artist, dated December 5, 1989, says, “it is one of the best & [most] beautiful window[s] I ever did.” and goes on to describe the window’s construction of one-inch thick colored glass frosted on one side and set in an epoxy matrix.
An artist as myself is only a vessel … the real artist is our Lord that through the Holy Spirit give[s] the inspiration … Pepe Mendez
Update – New pictures
Our Seminarian Krista Heuett and Fr. Brad Heuett were married at the Church of the Ascension in 2001. Krista kindly sent some pictures which show the window in much greater detail.
Do you know of a good home for this window?
If so, please get in touch with Fr. Chandler – ccjxn3@gmail.com