Almost a year after their removal, the stained glass windows on the south side of St. John’s Anglican Church – located at 700 Main Street in Brownwood – are returning following restoration by Willet Hauser Architectural Glass in Winona, Minnesota.

St. John’s Anglican Church is Brown County’s oldest church, completed in 1892, and the windows have been in place since being shipped over from Belgium in 1894.

“They’re essentially brand new windows because they took them apart and washed every piece of glass individually and put them back together,” said Gwen Eberhart, a member of the church.

Vinyl coverings that resembled the stained glass windows have been in place during their absence.

“It really is amazing,” Eberhart said. “They take pictures of the windows and then they have a vinyl replica made and put it on plexiglass in the window’s place. At a casual glance, it looks like the window is still there.”

The north side windows, and then the front side windows, will eventually be restored to complete the church’s four-phase process.

“From the outside, you just really can’t see the windows,” Eberhart said in regard to comparing the stained glass that has not been restored to the stained glass that has. “We asked which one to do next, and there’s one section where you can see the daylight between the glass and the lead. That’s what happens, the lead degenerates over the years and crumbles and separates.”

Restoration projects already completed include the “Tokyo Window,” which arrived in Brownwood by accident but has been a fixture in the church for almost 100 years. Due to a shipping error from Belgium, the window originally meant for St. John’s in Tokyo arrived here, while the window meant for St. John’s in Brownwood was sent to Japan and supposedly destroyed by an earthquake in the 1930s.

For those who would like to assist St. John’s Church in its renovations effort, or for more information about the project, call 325-646-7482, email office@stjohnsbrownwood.com, visit the website stjohnsbrownwood.com, or visit the Facebook page here.

“We were quoted a price for all the windows in 2022,” Eberhart said. “I’m waiting for a new price and then we have to put down 25 percent to get on a schedule, because this company is really busy. Then it will be maybe two months before they come and take them out, and it takes a week to get them out and shipped off.”

The original story from April 2024 can be found here.