Church News - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Stained glass to grace new temple

Published: Saturday, March 24, 2001

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Stained-glass windows, depicting Christ encircled by little children, are slated to be used in the Snowflake Arizona Temple.

The multi-layered glass windows, called a triptych, show Christ sitting under a tree blessing and instructing children and their families. The three-paneled window was previously located in a building owned by another church, the denomination of which is uncertain, on the U.S. eastern seaboard.

Tony Christensen, a member of the Canyon Estates Ward, North Canyon Bountiful Stake, discovered the windows at a Boston-based auction house. "[The Church] is building so many temples today and they are looking for good quality art," he said.

Brother Christensen, owner of Anthony's Antiques and Fine Arts in Salt Lake City, sold the windows to Deseret Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises money for Church causes. He is pleased the windows will be placed in the Snowflake Arizona Temple, as his eldest daughter and her husband will live in the temple district when the temple is completed.

On Sept. 23 ground was broken for the small temple in Snowflake. The Church has not announced a completion date.

The triptych will not be used as a window but as a lighted panel inside the temple, said F. Keith Stepan, managing director of the Church's Temple Construction Department.