A Special Sanctuary drawing people closer to God at Parkgate and Neston URC
Parkgate and Neston URC’s whole sanctuary within the church is made special by the Wall Panels beneath a rose window on the front wall. The five decorative panels were designed for the wall by Kay Andrews, an artist who has exhibited at the Royal Academy and is a member of the congregation.
Kay Andrews explained:
“About 25 people were involved in the making of the Wall Panels and many more helped in providing items to support the project.
“The idea was to provide a ‘thin place’. These are places where you feel closer to God – usually places where the wonder of creation, its awesomeness, grips you and you realise that there isn’t much distance between you and your Creator. The panels are meant to bring the thin place inside, helping to create a sacred space – a space for worship, contemplation and prayer. This is explained in more detail in the below section: What do the panels mean?
“Church member, Sheila Shaw, brought forward the idea to have the wonderful flocks of birds which makes the whole thing come alive, and Margaret Jordan, stitched at nearly every session and paid for all the cloth. Some people stitched two days a week for seven months, others popped in from time to time. Lots of people gave stuff or made tea or brought in treats. Many wrote prayers or gave a child’s handprint for the back of the main panel. There were donations of sheets of paper to join together for the life-size drawing of the picture and sheets and white tablecloths to keep everything clean, along with scissors, tacking thread and even steam irons. People helped to clean and paint the ‘cellar’ so that it was safe to work in.”
What do the panels mean?
The Celtic Christians believed, knew, that a place where people pray becomes over time, a sacred space. In other words, you feel the spirituality of the place and are drawn closer to God just by being there. They also believe that there a ‘thin places’, places where you feel closer to God – usually places where the wonder of creation, its awesomeness, grips you and you realise that there isn’t much distance between you and your Creator. Hill tops, water, sea, vast skies – all these can create a thin place.
Our little church situated on the edge of a beautiful place, a thin place, the Dee estuary – huge skies, distant hills, fantastic sunsets, glittering water and birds. Birds are a symbol worldwide of the spirit. Many believe that at death the soul leaves the body as a bird, a free spirit soaring heavenwards.
How wonderful it would be if we could bring the spirit of the Dee estuary, the feel of it, into our space here. After all, take away the rose window wall and what would you see? The Dee estuary! The panels are meant to bring the thin place inside, helping to create a sacred space – a space for worship, contemplation and prayer.
The sun gleaming on the vapour trails left by aircraft gives this place some wonderful and distinctive skies and it is this type of sky which is depicted in the panels.
Silver gilt thread, representing the life of Christ in our lives, has been used to add detail, and the birds represent our spirits flying upwards, having been fed, taking the Gospel message with them. And coming back to be fed again. The Cross remains at the centre of all the activity. The largest bird is an eagle which, in art, is one of the traditional symbols of the Gospel message. This is why it is given the key position.
Before the panels were fixed in place, prayers and hopes for the future written by the Congregation were glued to the back of the main panel, where they will remain for its lifetime. There are also photographs of babies’ hands reaching out to the future because although too young to write they are part of our church family.
In reality, the appearance of the estuary changes according to the weather. The water can look grey or white, or silver and almost too bright to look at, and the hills change colour. If you view the panels from different places, they too change. During the course of the service of worship, they can change as the sun and clouds alter the level of light entering through the side windows, reminding us that there is a world outside our sacred space waiting for us.
Kay Andrews
Hymn written by Revd Alan Gaunt, a member of our congregation, in celebration of the Wall Panels. Copyright Alan Gaunt 2005 Stainer & Bell Ltd
See where the birds
are winging the skies,
like rising prayers
and soaring songs of praise.
The hills, like faith,
stand sure beneath their flight,
the water shines with joy’s reflected light.
The art and craft
of human minds and hands
give space and hope
in which the soul expands
and finds fresh ways
to value and translate
life’s brimming joys,
for faith to celebrate.
And over all, within and all around,
God’s spirit breathes, and every sight
and sound proclaims God’s love what
has, and will, enfold all things that live,
and never lose its hold
Yet sometimes dread
mars every sound and sight
when cruelty
and hatred hide loves’s light:
as when love died
in Jesus on the cross,
and hope despaired, confronting total loss.
But through it all,
Love’s radiance reappears,
the cross itself
illuminates our fears;
the Spirit’s joy, beyond the reach of words,
Empowers our prayer and praise, to soar like birds
Parkgate and Neston URC is based in the small town of Neston, Wirral, Cheshire, midway between Liverpool and Chester. Part of the United Reformed Church, they meet on Sunday mornings at 11.00 am for family worship, and other church groups and activities take place during the week. You are very welcome to come and join them:
Parkgate and Neston URC