Sunday, September 28, 2008

Central College Chapel

In keeping with the previous week's posts from Pella.........this one will feature the chapel on the Central College campus in Pella. This school is affiliated with the Reformed Church in America.
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The skylight windows in the chapel's ceiling form a Cross:
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You can see how the the roof tapers up to form a narrow cross-shape:

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The only stained-glass window to be found was above one of the doorways. I Googled Eendracht Maakt Macht, to find that it means "Union is Strength". Here's a coat of arms which is somewhat similar to the one(s) depicted on the window.

[Update several hours after this post was published: I clicked on this window photo to enlarge it and I see there are more words at the top.......Nisi Dominus Frustra. A quick Google of that phrase led to this blogpost by a Presbyterian pastor named Mark Roberts, which explains the meaning of those words. They are from Psalm 107:1.]

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The organ pipes:

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And, in conclusion.......the quiet, unassuming altar:

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Perhaps you will have a quiet, unassuming day of rest today!!

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(While you're resting, if you're in the mood for a fascinating read.......go here:

"Sabbath vs Sunday: The Rest of the Story". Its on a site called WorldNetDaily, which I'm not necessarily advocating.......but, the article is full of interesting info about the early Church and other things, such as the days of the week, which we never give a second thought to!)

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7 comments:

Russell said...

I recall being in this chapel for an orientation with my daughter a few years ago when she was thinking of going to Central College. It is very nice.

I laughed at your comment yesterday about the strange green tractor! I had a feeling you were in the Red Tractor camp!! Heh!!

My neighbor to the west is all red and my neighbor just to the south is all green. In this part of the world green makes up about 85 percent of all machinery!

If I were farming I think I would go blue (Ford / New Holland)!!

For people who are not into farming, the color of your equipment is something others notice a great deal! Heh!!

Take care!

Jeannelle said...

Russell,

NO...NO....NO! Absolutely not....we are not RED tractor people, even though we have a red silage blower. We are hard-core ORANGE tractor people! AGCO-Allis all the way! Our neighbor was that way also, up until a couple years ago when the friendly, local John Deere salesman got to him!!

Thanks for stopping by! Hey, that's cool you've been to the Central campus.

rhymeswithplague said...

If I had to hazard a guess, I would say WorldNetDaily is probably a Seventh-Day Adventist website.

The whole tone of the article reminds me strangely of the old peacenik question, "What if they gave a war and nobody came?"

DesertHen said...

Another great post.....love the sky-light photo.....so unique and yet simple.

Have a wonderful Sunday.........=)

Jeannelle said...

rhymsie,

You could be correct. I enjoyed the history in the article. We rarely hear of early Church history.

One time my sister took a genealogy trip to New York State and found some of our ancestors buried in a Seventh Day Baptist cemetery. I had never heard of such a thing before.....I'd heard of Seventh Day Adventists, but not Baptists.

It amazes me sometimes that we make certain to uphold many of the Ten Commandments, but the Sabbath one we kind of skirt around....which is fine, I guess.

The times I've watched Fiddler on the Roof, I'm always moved by the Jewish family's reverent preparations for the Sabbath. In a way I feel I've missed out on something.

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deserthen,

Thanks for stopping by! I, too, really like that cross in the chapel skylights!

Egghead said...

I love the pipe organ.

Louis la Vache said...

The cross-shaped window is reminiscent of Saint Mary's Cathedral, San Francisco.