Rare WCTU "White Ribbon" Window at Wesley UMC

All of the glass windows of Wesley features scenes from the life of Christ rather than scenes from throughout the Bible.  The exception is this small window along the south cloister. It is called "The Tie Around the World" and was dedicated "For God, Home, and Every Land." by the Women's Christian Temperance Union, of which many members called Wesley home.  A more correct title would be the "White Ribbon Around the World" as the white ribbon was the symbol of the WCTU. It symbolized for the people who memorialized it a pledge that members of the WCTU made to pray for members around the world each day at noon. In this way they kept their concerns always before God. The WCTU was specifically concerned about the devastation resulting from alcohol abuse in homes and society. The campaigned to educate youth, change laws, and influence their society. Their zeal stemmed from a strong conviction that the promotion of temperance was a part of their response to the Great Commission.

Is this the only window its kind?  Attempts to locate and identify similar memorial windows has been unsuccessful so far.

Stained Glass At Wesley

From an upcoming history of the windows:

 

"The stained glass in the sanctuary of Wesley Methodist Church use a combination of methods and consists of four :

(4) large "story" windows (approximately 12 x16 feet) set high in the walls of the four cardinal points of the compass (East, North, West, South). 

Below two of these large windows are set four (4) smaller and narrower "story" windows (in the North and South Transept). 

Along each of the north and south sanctuary cloisters are two  (2) sets of three (one set on the south and one set on the south ) 

(6) above them sets of common stained glass (three on each side).

The total number of stained glass panels (story and common glass) is approximately thirty (30). There are four (4) large story windows, eight (8) tall narrow story windows. Six (6) cloister story windows. Eleven (11) common (without story) glass colored windows.

 The original contract price for the windows was nearly $4,112.00. They were donated by various families to honor family members, most who were connected with Wesley.  Some reflect individuals significant to both local and denominational history. They were acquired from the Kansas City Stained Glass Works, Inc.  (514-516 Wyandotte Street, Kansas City). Their work shop was at the St. Joseph Art Glass Co., (Paul H. Wolff, president) at 806-808 North 2^nd Street in St. Joseph, Missouri.  This company had produced stained glass in several Kansas City churches, homes and businesses across the country." -- Used by Permission

 

The Windows At Wesley : In Honor of Rev. David Guy Murray (1859-1916)

"Gethsemane". Photo by Phil Davis, c1988 WUMC, OKC

In the southern transept of the English Gothic sanctuary dedicated in May of 1928, below the balcony are a collection of four tall, narrow story windows donated by various people.

 

The window "Gethsemane" was donated by Mrs. D.G. (Belle Cloyd) Murray and Family to honor her late husband the Rev. David Guy Murray (b.1859, Ill). 

Murray had been a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church, North.  In 1907, he was appointed District Superintendent of the churches in Oklahoma City and served in that capacity until 1913.  At the time of his death in 1916, he was a field representative for the Methodist Hospital in Guthrie, Oklahoma.

 

In 1928, when the window was installed by his family the design was probably chosen by the family, as several others indicated they chose scenes and sometimes colors. 

 

He left many friends, churches, and his family to mourn his passing. His children included: Rose C., Lee C., Grace E., Lois, Harold G., Merrill, and Richard C.

 

He was loved by many and among his pallbearers was a pastor of Wesley, H.C. Case.  He was buried in Fairlawn Cemetery in Oklahoma City.

Two books provide important verifications of this information: Oklahoma Methodism in the Twentieth Century by Clegg and Oden (1968) and Story of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Oklahoma by Brill (1939).  Brill's work includes a biography.