Stained Glass Panel “By Your Side I Will Seek Other Seas”

This panel is a custom design by Marian Miller of “GospelGlass”, Cincinnati, OH, and was designed by Marian in consultation with Bob and Jan LePage, and the 2009 graduating class of Emmanuel College. The panel itself was created by Bob and Jan LePage.

The design is a depiction of the final line in the refrain of the hymn “Jesus, You Have Come to the Lakeshore”. It attempts to symbolizes the experience of those who are entering into ministry; who are leaving former pursuits behind, and launching out with Christ to explore other seas. It is an affirmation to graduating students that as they leave the familiar behind, they do so with God’s accompanying presence. They do not journey alone. The image is of a boat heading out to sea at the beginning of a new day. The morning fog is lifting and the sun breaks brightly over the horizon, inviting the traveler onward. Only the bow of the boat is visible in the picture, allowing the viewer to imagine that he or she is at the helm of the boat, setting a course out to sea. The symbols of ribbon and drape convey a sense of God’s accompanying presence, ― celebrative and revealed, but also mysterious and veiled. The red ribbon is also a stylized dove, symbolic of the Holy Spirit that has hovered over each of us in the waters of our baptism, claiming us as God’s beloved. The colours are liturgical colours, with the exception of the boat which is brown, the colour of the earth. Bob and Jan LePage March 18, 2009