We removed several panels from each window last week (September 24-27), to create an opening about five feet tall in one lancet.








The openings were filled with plywood, and the sections of stained glass were crated and stored, awaiting the studios that will restore the windows.



This is required to get the scaffolding inside. The scaffolding will be passed from the roof outside the windows through this opening to people in the catwalk, who will then assemble it in the narrow catwalk in front of each window. (There will also be scaffolding on the exterior.) Although it is very complicated to design and erect, by building the interior scaffolding this way, we will not interfere with activity in the nave and the church can remain open to the public.

The words associated with Gothic architecture (Saint Thomas is built in the Gothic style) and with stained glass are arcane and ancient, probably not terms that people are familiar with. The parts of the Gothic church are divided vertically (up the wall) and horizontally (along the floor). Vertically, the divisions are, from the floor to the ceiling, the “aisle,” the “triforium,” and the “clerestory.” In Saint Thomas, if you look at the north wall, the aisle extends from the floor to the first horizontal line at the lower ceiling. The triforium is above that. It is a row of short arches, where the lights are presently located – they have been temporarily moved from the clerestory for the duration of the project. The clerestory is above that, where the largest windows are.

The divisions of the floor plan are similarly regimented. At the west end of the church is the chancel, which is raised above the level of the pews. This is where the altar and altar rail are located. The next space toward the east on the raised area is the choir. Here the pews face each other so that the members of the choir can see each other and the organist. The organ console is also in the choir. Directly in front of the choir, from the steps eastward to the first set of doors, is the nave. From the first set of interior doors to the exterior front doors is the narthex. The wall of woodwork and glass between the nave and the narthex is the narthex screen.