What would God say if He had our windows?
Comic book story of the Prodigal Son across front of church proves a talking point
What would God say if He had our windows? Such a question arose when the deacons of West Wickham and Shirley Baptist Church gathered for an away day.
The Croydon-based church has a series of glass panels at the front of its building, which is positioned at a cross roads and whose car park is a busy thoroughfare for people wanting to take a short cut. Could the windows be used in such a way as to grab people’s attention?
The question was reflected on, prayed over and discussed among members.
And the result? An eye catching comic book representation of the story of The Prodigal Son.
The strip stretches across the four glass windows and church door, ending with the message: “You are invited to the party - Welcome home!” It was drawn and designed by one of the church's deacons, and then resized to fit the windows by another member who has a background in graphic design. A local company installed it on 22 January.
Not surprisingly, it has proved something of a talking point.
‘We have had a lot of good conversations of the back of the artwork already,’ said Sara Kennett, the church’s youth minister. ‘Firstly from the guys who put it up, who came to our senior minister and asked “Can you tell me what the story means?” What a great opportunity!
‘We have seen people literally stopping and walking backwards to look at it, people taking pictures and some great conversations. We are positioned at a cross roads, and our car park is a thoroughfare for lots of people who take a quick shortcut, so we are praying that God will use it to speak his love and welcome into many lives.’
She added, ‘The message that ends the story is our prayer as a church: as we launch a 24/7 prayer room in the area behind the comic book, we pray that many in our community would be welcomed home to God.’
Baptist Times, 06/02/2015