The All Souls Ghost, a Stained Glass Window and Chalice Art
Some years ago, there was a Universalist Church in Norwalk, Ohio. Then, as happens, the church disbanded, the future arrived and the building was torn down to make room for progress.
Hearing that the building was being torn down and an auction of parts of the building was to be held, Bruce Kilgore, Tom Miller and Jeff Mandeville, of All Souls UU Church of Bellville, went up to Norwalk to see what was there, with an eye to purchasing something and keeping it at All Souls to ensure the continuation of the legacy of the Norwalk church.
Out of all that was on auction, Tom Miller purchased one of the tall, arched stained glass windows, with dimensions of 8-9 feet tall and 3-feet in width. The trio packed it up and moved it to All Souls, where it was stored in an out-of-sight corner of the Chancel – where it sat for six or seven years waiting for an idea for a use for it. The window came in its complete from out of the wall, so had oak frame, about a foot thick that had been mounted in the old stone church wall.
Finally, in the Spring of 2007, Mike Garber, a lifetime member of the church was heard to exclaim that he wished someone would do something to get rid of that old window because it had been sitting there for a long time and so on….
The very next Saturday, we held a clean-up day in preparation for hosting the Annual Universalist Convocation in our church. These clean-up days include everything we can find to clean or fix or tighten in the entire building (except that window from Norwalk).. Late in the morning, while cleaning around the Chancel area, the same Mike Garber was walking away from the area where the window was resting. There was no one near the window or working at anything that was near the window. It was simply leaning against the wall where as it had done for all those years.
Suddenly, the window fell and hit Mike square on the back of his head – smashing a round, clear center piece of glass in the window and knocking Mike down. (That HAD to be the ghost)…. The ancient lead and framing of the window was seriously damaged and deemed not worthy of repair since there was no need of it. Mike was not injured, but the Ghost of All Souls did get back at him for the mean comment about the window. Of this we are fairly confident!
Doug Wilson, a member of our church and a Stained Glass Artist , was summoned and he dismantled the window and took all the glass home, where he thought he might be able to make something new out of the old and keep the window alive. The end result was that Doug created an actual chalice for the church, which we use each week in our services.
Then, a few weeks later, he brought the beautiful chalice hanging art piece that he had created from the ancient glass.
Thus the story of the Ghost of All Souls, the Stained Glass Window and Chalice Art.