RE – Thursday 4th February

Today’s lesson looks at the importance of stained-glass windows to the Christian religion. We will reflect on how they help Christians to worship, their meaning and importance, and understand that stained glass windows were historically created to communicate Bible stories.

Read – Here is some information on the history of stained-glass windows.

  • When churches were first built, not many people could read and write. The church was a place where people went to learn as well as to worship. The stained-glass windows represented bible scenes, which allowed the church to communicate bible stories and Christian beliefs to all people. The stained-glass windows brought the bible stories to life.
  • The different colours of the stained-glass windows in churches represented different things. For instance, red represents the blood of Christ and serves as a reminder of His suffering. Blue, which is the same colour as the sky, symbolises heaven and is often linked to Mary.

Look – Here is an image of a stained-glass window of Jesus feeding the 5,000.

Think about – What effect do you think the artist wanted the window to have on worshippers? How do you feel looking at the window?

Now look at this awesome example of a stained-glass window!

This is the “cardboard cathedral” in Christchurch, New Zealand which was rebuilt following a devastating earthquake in February 2011 that reduced the Anglican Cathedral (the city’s oldest and most famous landmark) to rubble. 100,000 homes were damaged and 185 people died. However, Christianity is a religion where rebuilding is important and that when things go wrong, Christians believe that God can be found in this – by not avoiding things that are hard. Rebuilding is full of hope and commitment. The building is called the “cardboard cathedral” because the materials used to build it included 96 strengthened cardboard tubes.

Watch this great time-lapse video of Christchurch’s cardboard cathedral being constructed:

https://vimeo.com/465266130/9e46525661

Look at the stained-glass window being put in near the end of the clip!

Watch – Now take a virtual tour of the cathedral to see how the stained-glass plays a part on the other side of the wall. https://www.google.co.nz/maps?ll=-43.532092000000006%2C172.64305600000003&cbp=%2C176.97%2C%2C0%2C0.099998474&layer=c&panoid=77QXbv6O7IYAAAQJOH1jbw&spn=0.18000000000000788%2C0.30000000000000676&output=classic&cbll=-43.532092%2C172.643056

Think about – What you think the different parts of the stained-glass window symbolise? Why have they used triangles? Which colours have they used? Why has cardboard been used in the building of this?

Your task – What might a stained-glass window look like for those hoping for a vaccine and cure for Covid-19? How would a stained-glass window tell the story of the past year? Email your designs to yearfive@lingsprimary.org.uk

Good luck!

5 thoughts on “RE – Thursday 4th February

  • 4th February 2021 at 10:09 am
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    maybe a bunch of people getting cured by one person or something like that.
    by showing a picture to imagine in colour of what happened

    Reply
  • 4th February 2021 at 11:25 am
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    i tink it would be jesus helping people in hospital and looking after all people.
    it might also show jesus making people not scared of the virus.

    Reply
  • 4th February 2021 at 12:23 pm
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    They used triangles because the building is a tri angle they used the colours Green,white,blue,red and yellow

    Reply
  • 4th February 2021 at 2:08 pm
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    I think the triangles have Jesus on them. A stained glass for people wanting to stop this Pandemic would be a triangle on top of a rectange so that it looks like a vaccine. I would make it white

    Reply
    • 4th February 2021 at 2:26 pm
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      Great idea!

      Reply

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