There's a difference between painted and stained glass, and after seeing the painted glass windows at The Parish Church of St. Luke this weekend, you won't be able to mistake the two again. 

 

Blair Anderson started playing the organ when he was only 11 years old.

"I've always been intrigued by the different sounds that can come from the organ," he explained. "I've been doing it my whole life."

The now 60-year-old organist and choirmaster for The Parish Church of St. Luke has certainly found his God-inspired gifts and will be assisting the church during its Doors Open exhibition  Saturday and Sunday.

The Anglican parish was established in the late 19th century, as a response to the newly-established suburb of Osborne Village. It's been spiritually caring for people in the area since 1905.

Adorned with beautiful, Canadian- and British-made painted glass windows, the church is also home to one of the largest organs in the city.

"As soon as it was installed in 1910, people couldn't hear it in the back [of the church]" explained Anderson, "so someone donated a full organ to go at the back of the church."

Now participating in Doors Open for the eighth year, Anderson speaks very highly of the opportunity for those unfamiliar with the parish to take a closer look inside at some of the treasures it has to offer.

"We've been very, very pleased with the number of people who have come to visit our church," said Anderson. "Many people say they walk by it, they think it's a beautiful building on the outside, but when they come inside and see all the riches and see all the interesting stuff that we have inside the church of a historical nature, they're blown away."

One of these features includes the painted glass decorating the church's nave, or main gathering area.

"Stained glass are pieces of glass of a particular colour," Anderson shared, explaining that painted glass consists of a coloured glass base that then has paint applied to it, and is fired in the oven for permanent setting. "You can be a little bit more artistic with coloured glass than with stained glass."

Anderson's favourite of the parish collection is a piece entitled "Light of the World," a representation of the painting by the same name, a copy of which can be found in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, England.

Anderson takes particular joy in sharing the area of the church he typically occupies most. The organ, featuring four manual keyboards and a pedal, makes what the organist describes as "a wonderful sound." It features a large contrast in dynamics and can take on the sound of virtually any instrument, from trumpet to strings, and back to its original organ sound.

The most well-kept "secret" of this church, however, remains its eight English bells that can be occasionally heard from the top of the parish's bell tower.

Guided tours will be available from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 26, and from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 27. Tours will run throughout the day, last about 30 to 45 minutes, and accommodate groups of up to 20 people at a time.

The Parish Church of St. Luke is located at 130 Nassau Street North.

Read more:

Steeples and stained glass: the churches of Doors Open - Holy Trinity Anglican Church

Steeples and stained glass: the churches of Doors Open - Elim Chapel

Steeples and stained glass: the churches of Doors Open - St. John's Cathedral