He
Took Bread And Blessed It And Brake And Gave To Them
This
is the second Easter window. At first glance, it looks as
though an error had been made in the installation of the
windows, that this is a depiction of the Last Supper and
is chronologically misplaced. But the sequence really is
in proper order, for this window does not show the Last
Supper at all, but rather the Supper at Emmaus on the evening
of the resurrection day.
The
quotation at the top of the window is from the Emmaus account
(Luke 24:30). Jesus is shown breaking the bread in His hands,
while the two disciples who accompanied Him to Emmaus sit
at the table, finally recognizing Him, their hats and traveling
staff hung up on the wall. The pitcher and bowl add to the
confusion with the Last Supper, but these would also be
a normal facility at any table for washing the dusty hands
and feet of travelers. The traditional symbol of the Eucharist,
however, the rayed chalice and host, appears at the top
of the window.
Although
it is not mentioned, the upper and lower portions of this
window are tied together by the thought expressed in the
hymn, "Break Thou the Bread of Life:' which refers
as much to the Word of God as it does to the Sacrament.
For here is God's Word being taught at the first Sunday
School of our congregation, by Miss EIizabeth Pohlman in
the spring of 1820. (Although the date of May 20, 1820 appears
in the window, that was a Saturday, and our Sunday School
records themselves give the date of Miss Pohlman's first
class as April 30, 1820.)
Elizabeth Pohlman
was a sister of the Rev. Henry N. Pohlman, who in later
years returned to Albany to become pastor of his home church.
Henry Pohlman had the distinction of being the first theological
student at Hartwick Seminary, when the latter was finally
opened in Otsego County in 1815-16. At the bottom of the
window are the seals of Hartwick Seminary (right) and Hartwick
College (left), the Lutheran educational institutions on
our territory whose history has been so interwoven with
that of our congregation.
Our
present church edifice was completed in 1954, in which year
Albany had a local bicentennial celebration commemorating
the Albany Congress of 1754, when Benjamin Franklin came
here. The circular emblem at the left center of this window
depicts the old Albany Stadt Huys (city hall), where the
congress was held. The emblem itself was used during the
1954 observance, and was lettered around the rim: 1754 Albany
Cradle of the Union 1954.
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