07/19/2008

Associated Press

A church where parishioners found apparent damage to ornate stained glass windows after an April earthquake has gotten a clean bill of health.

Although a few of Christ Episcopal Church's windows may need some repairs, it turns out most of the glass panels were fine despite parishioners' fears that they had suffered cracks in the April 18 quake that rattled much of the Midwest.

Stained glass artist John Wardell Clark, who recently inspected the church's windows, said the sections in question were simply refracting light in a way that created the appearance of cracks.

Clark and his wife, Evelina, or Wardell Art glass Studio in Aurora, Ill., were already familiar with the windows that grace the church in the Ohio River city about 40 miles northeast of Louisville, Ky.

The couple had meticulously restored them two at a time from 1997 to 2006.

"It's got such an emotional connection for me," John Clark said as daylight spilled through the sanctuary's windows.

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Information from: The Madison Courier, http://www.madisoncourier.com