The History of Emmanuel Church

DESCRIPTION:

A barefoot femal figure runs toward a beam of golden light as she looks upward in anticipation.  Beneath her feet is a golden ribbon bearing the inscription.

INSCRIPTION:  :  Nearer My God to Thee, Nearer to Thee

NAMEPLATE:  To the glory of God and the memory of Ruchard harrison Collins 1860-1935 [and] Elizabeth Roberts Collins 1863-1943 by their son Stephen Roberts Collins.

Stephen Chester Roberts, the grandfather of Judge Stephen Roberts Collins, who endowed this window dedicated to his father and mother, was the third-longest serving Rector of Chester Parish from 1871 to 1899.  The window was commissioned in 1977 when the 1982 hymnal was being drafted, and Judge Collins knew that his favorite hymn “Nearer, my God, to Thee,” would not be included.  That is why he chose the theme for the window.  At the time the window was installed, there was a concrete block storage closet off Dwyer Hall that intruded into the Garth, making the window in this position darker than the others.  That’s why the artists all submitted brighter-than-ordinary designs.  When the Garth was renovated  and the closet removed, it made the window brighter than it sneighbors, and so it appears today.  The total cost of this window was $13,500.