Go
Ye Therefore and Teach All Nations
Referred
to as the Ascension window, the ninth in this series is
also representative of the great Christian missionary movement.
Jesus, whose monogram IHS appears in the clouds above, is
seen as he ascends into heaven, while laying on the disciples
below His great commission to go and teach all nations.
This call to spread the gospel is further symbolized by
the presence of the globe, the Holy Bible and the lamp of
learning.
285 years prior to
the completion of our present-day church, a small congregation
of Albany Lutherans gathered in the first meeting house
(1669 or 1670), at what is now the west side of South Pearl
Street, between Beaver and Howard Street. On this same location
over 100 years later, the congregation, now called the Lutheran
Ebenezer Church, built a new edifice using stones from old
Fort Frederick (now the site of the State Capitol), The
word Ebenezer is a derivative from the Hebrew, meaning "stone
of help:' The congregation adopted the English language
during the period this 1786 edifice was in use. In 1796
the council minutes were recorded for the first time in
English, an English Lutheran liturgy and hymnal was introduced
in 1808, and the next four years marked the transition from
German to English preaching.
Philip Hooker, the
well-known architect, was commissioned to plan the 1816-68
edifice at Pine and Lodge Streets. By the end of the Civil
War, it was becoming renowned for its spire which, due to
settling of the foundation of the church, was taking on
an appearance similar to that of the leaning tower of Pisa.
The first seal of
the City of Albany, the monogram ALB surmounted by the British
crown, dates from our first city charter in 1686.
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