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| ABOUT US | MINISTRIES | EDUCATION | PARISH LIFE | CALENDAR | PHOTOS | CONTACT US |  |
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ABOUT TRANSFIGURATION |
NEEDLEPOINT The Blue Kneelers The blue altar rail kneelers echo the faceted glass windows. They are like a great jigsaw puzzle and when laid side by side in the prescribed order they replicate the images from the windows. They are the design of Lou Gartner of Palm Beach, Florida. Many different stitches are employed in the work. The colored "stones" are done in various rough stitches chosen for their ability to interpret the chunks of glass in the windows. The gray background utilizes the basic tent stitch, executed in the basket-weave manner. The front blue box edge is a ground diagonal mosaic which is pointed toward the center of the church. The back of each kneeler carries the name of the person honored by the gift, the name of the parish, the cushion number and initials of the needleworker. All material and labor was donated by members of the parish. Over 50 families and individuals were involved in this project which took 22 months and 65,000 stitches to complete. It is estimated that the forty-four kneelers, at an average of 380 hours each, required 16,720 hours to complete. The Sedilia Cushions and Kneelers Step back into the sanctuary to see the cushions in the left and right sedilia, or ministers' seating. These cushions depict the power of good over evil as portrayed in sacred myth. St. Michael is in combat with a purple dragon and St. George is depicted slaying a green dragon. Notice in the flames from the dragons mouths there are the letters WOC for the Women of the Church which supported this project. The cushions required over 187,000 stitches each and approximately 4,000 hours to complete. Note also, the complementary needlepoint kneelers in the sedilia. Their design is taken from kneelers in Canterbury Cathedral. The total number of hours in the altar rail kneeler and sedilia cushion needlework project was 23,720. The Green Kneelers A pale-green set of altar rail kneelers was also worked by parishioners and was the first set of kneelers fashioned for the new church building in 1970. This set of kneelers is used during the season of Lent. Outside that season, they may be viewed in the louvered cabinets in the ambulatory, or hallway, behind the altar. They depict symbols of the Eucharist along with various historic forms of the cross and other symbols. The kneelers were designed by Alice Virginia Walden of Fort Worth and are worked in the Continental and Basketweave stitches. Approximately 30 members of the parish worked on this project under the sponsorship of the Altar Guild. Ministerial Chairs 
The backs and seat cushions for the six sanctuary chairs plus the Bishop's chair were designed by parishioner Sally Kilishek and worked by members of St. Clare's Guild. Six of the chairs are permanently placed, three on either side of the altar. The seventh is the Bishop's Chair and is moved into the sanctuary only when the bishop is present to preside. Six of the chair backs bear the Tau Cross and Crown of the parish logo. The seventh, the Bishop's Chair, bears the Seal of the Diocese of Dallas. The seat cushions have artistic representations of the two great sacraments and five sacramental rites: Baptism, Eucharist, Confirmation, Unction, Reconciliation of a Penitent, Matrimony, and Ordination.
Acolyte Chairs The red cushions and backs of the 10 acolyte chairs were designed by the Rev'd Terence C. Roper and completed by 25 men and women of the parish in 1979. They were the impetus for the two later projects described above. These cushions depict typical scenes in the life of an acolyte. One of the cushions shows an acolyte sleeping on the job and another demonstrates the childish prank of pouring hot candle wax down another acolyte's neck! |
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