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	Photo by Mel Ehrin

This tapestry depicting our church history has been mounted in the north transept of the sanctuary, next to the door to the chapel.  It was inspired and commissioned by the Abington Presbyterian Church Historical Society, with the guidance of Dr. Bruce Lutz and Walter Lufkin, and was designed and created under the direction of Lois Gordon Ehrin.  The dedicated needleworkers included Helen and Bruce Lutz, Ruth Draper, Mildren Kistenmacher, Lois Wilson, Jean McDevitt, Eleanor Barwis, Ann Grebe, Betty Harbison, Grace Karschner, Anne Rotenbury, Meriel Shaffer, and Shirley Tomkinson.

Story of the Tapestry
by Lois Gordon Ehrin

This is the story about how the Abington Presbyterian Church Tapestry was commissioned, inspired, conceived, created and completed from 1996 to 2004. In July 1996, Dr.Bruce Lutz and Walter Lufkin, representing the Abington Presbyterian Church Historical Society, approached me with a commission to create the design for a tapestry depicting our church history. I was honored and excited to accept the challenge. We agreed that the project would necessarily be large and would need the efforts of a group of church members who would copy the design in needlepoint on canvas. None of us realized at the time that the process would become a long journey. Needlepoint is essentially painting with colored wool. It requires meticulous attention to technical details and at the same time devotion to the overall aesthetic vision. Many hands were necessary to bring this tapestry to completion. But first came the aesthetic vision and the original composition from the invention and hands of the designer. Creating original Art grows out of careful observation of many resources , contemplation and exploring the elements and principles of design until the ideas are formed into visual images. "Ten percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration" is an apt description of the process. Information gathering is the first step in the creative process to achieve the vision. It was a visit to the Washington D.C. National Cathedral with their gorgeous Ecclesiastical needlepoint tableaux beautifying the cathedral interiors that got me started.

Since our church has a long and exciting history, which I wished to somehow impart in the tapestry , I decided to visit other old churches which utilized needlepoint to warm , soften and beautify their wood and stone interiors. Subsequent visits to the oldest Congregational Church in Newport, R.I., and the 16th century Anglican Church in Bermuda, in addition to Sweden's ancient cathedral in Uppsala, enabled me to study beautiful old and new ecclesiastical needlepoint and gather sketches, photographs and the courage to tackle the task of designing the Abington church tapestry. My vision was to convey important historical events honoring Abington church's past. I also wished to engender awareness on the viewer's part, the many meaningful symbolic representations within our sanctuary.

For nearly two months my husband and I walked around Abington church exterior and sat in the sanctuary pews, gathering material. I sketched. He climbed 20 foot ladders to photograph details of the stained glass windows, the rose window and the ceiling paintings in the chancel. Catching the glowing streams of colored light beaming down across the sanctuary from the glorious hues of the stained glass designs at different hours of the day gave me my inspiration for my color scheme. Reading the historic record, from the seventy pioneers who in 1714 united together to sign the covenant in which they "engaged to be the Lord's and to one another to unite in a church state" ;until today, combined with studying materials describing the symbolic meaning of the many designs in the sanctuary and chapel, I formed my plan for the tapestry . Symbolism is a universal language. I selected pictorial symbols that best communicated important events and meaning to our congregation's spiritual purpose, mission and growth. Symbols of where we came from and how we have built upon our fascinating past helped me focus on a pleasing visual statement.

The design for the tapestry took one year to complete, from July 1996 to Julyl997. During that time, Dr.Lutz and Walter Lufkin and I conferred many times. I presented the first drawings for the tapestry to the church historic committee in November 1996 for their discussions suggestions and approval. A decision was made to place a simplified version of the beautiful gold stained glass Rose Window designed by the Willet Stained Glass Studio in 1966 at the top center of the tapestry. The central figure is Christ ascending to Heaven and welcomed by angels. He holds the cross topped orb denoting the triumph of Christianity in the world. In the circle below his feet is the Lamb of God symbol bearing the banner of victory of Life over Death. Following clockwise in the succeeding half circles around the margin are symbols of the Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross beginning:

1 ."Father forgive them for they know not what they do." The spears of persecutors point toward Christ, represented by a Chi Rho, combined with a heart symbolizing love, and God's all seeing eye enclosed in a triangle.

2. ."Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." The Cross of Christ is flanked by the two crosses of the two thieves.

3."Woman behold thy son ,.. .behold thy mother. 'The Chi Rho represents Christ on the Cross, with symbols of John, a chalice and serpent, ...Mary, a fleur de lys.

4."My God. My God, why hast thou forsaken me?,...Christ's despair is depicted by the crown of thorns.

5."I thirst", has the symbols of a sponge and the vessel of vinegar given Him to drink.

6."It is finished. 'The spear that pierced Christ's side,  and the dove, representing Christ's ascending spirit.

7."Father, into thy hands ,1 commend my spirit." The symbols of the hand of God reaching forth to welcome His Son, the crown and palms of immortality combine with the butterfly, traditional symbol of the Resurrection.

The Rose Window is surrounded with deep blue and gold comer stars representing purity and Divine Guidance; also to give the design a calm surround space. On both sides of the Rose Window using the star studded blue of the firmament I included designs from the carvings at the end of each pew and the choir and clergy benches to represent the human connection to our Savior. The clergy bench designs denote the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end of Christ's ministry. The pew designs with symbolic meaning include: the pomegranate , hope of immortality; wheat, the bounty of the earth and the bread of Communion. The oak symbol of Christ's strength and faith; the rose symbol of purity and martyrdom, the ivy .symbol of fidelity and eternal life.the thistle, earthly sorrow and the crown of thorns. The olive branch symbolizes peace, the grapes and vine represent the wine of Holy Communion and the lily denotes purity. The choir benches depict the harp and the lyre. I created two more designs, a choir member singing, and the church organ pipes.

My color scheme was selected from the sanctuary's stained glass windows. The brilliant reds, blues, greens and golds are traditionally used in ecclesiastical needlepoint in combinations of functional, decorative and interpretive elements. Placing these diamond shapes repetitively on both sides of the Rose Window was organized to establish a sense of dignity and stability. Dividing the forms with vertical gold borders suggests the pipe organ and the color of music that contribute so much to our worship in the sanctuary.

The four corners of the tapestry design contain the four evangelist's symbols represented in the chancel ceiling : St, Matthew, the winged man and gospel writer, St. Mark, the lion with spiritual strength and courage, St. Luke, the winged ox, symbol of sacrifice and divine mission, and St. John, the eagle, signifying courage, faith in the Savior's divinity.

On the two side panels of the tapestry , I tried to incorporate much about the people who contributed to the origin and growth of Abington Church. I felt I could not do better than the chapel stained glass windows to honor outstanding Presbyterians and events. The design was simplified for transition to needlepoint. The left panel contains the Log College connection and the First General Assembly in 1780. John Witherspoon, the only minister to sign the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin, who published the first book of sermons and Francis Makemi, itinerant minister considered father of organized Presbyterianism are included. The second panel on the right displays the first three Abington church buildings. Rev. Malachi Jones, first minister of Abington church , George Whitefield, prominent evangelist, President Benjamin Harrison and John Wanamaker, the Post Master General of the U.S. who contributed so much to Abington Church's growth. and William Jennings Bryan the 200th Anniversary speaker at Abington.

Across the bottom of the tapestry are two meaningful designs from the glass screen in the Narthex from the 148th Psalm, angels praising the Lord. Beasts praising Him were chosen particularly to recognize the gentle yearly Christian service blessing the animals.

Designing a panel depicting the 1866 building which was destroyed by fire in 1895 and rebuilt in 1896 seemed important. Another panel included the beauty of the hand carved Celtic cross, symbol of our Christian faith and the Scottish thistle design recognizing our early Presbyterian beginnings. The bottom center panel contains the main front doors with the Tree of Life, symbolic of the gospel of Christ and the Phoenix, ancient bird who after 500 years burned itself up and rose from the ashes restored to the freshness of youth, symbolizing the rebirth of Abington Presbyterian Church out of the ashes of the fire destroyed edifice.

Establishment of foreign missions to India and Africa instigated by Susan B. Smith in 1835 added international out reach of Abington church. Susan , representing women, is holding the world and flags in the next panel. The following panel is for Abington church's effort to establish ten sister churches. A panel including the logo of the Presbyterian church in America and the Greek symbols of Christ selected from the center of our communion table are next. Finally, the panel illustrating our pulpit wood carving and embroidered altar cloth recognized the impact upon us of our minister's messages.

The border edging the tapestry is a stylized red dogwood blossom, symbolizing Christ's blood and sacrifice. The center of the tapestry shows illustrations of the first two churches and our present day structure. I painted this from the grave yard across the street because that is where the first church was built. The grave stones are included because the first church members are buried there. Also Patriot Soldiers in 1778 fired at British Redcoats from behind the walls of the church grave yard. Included is the huge tree in the grave yard , which lived for 250 years until recently, whose roots grew around grave stones of early church members. The tree frames and supplies the visual transition from the original site to the present church.

The two angels in the design symbolize the spiritual support to those seventy early settlers in their quest to create the Covenant of 1714. The first angel holds the flag of the British crown and the Covenant. The second angel holds an early American flag and the new steeple bell, donated by John Wanamaker after the destruction of the first bell during the 1895 fire . Pieces of the old bell were recast into small souvenir bells and sold to other contributing "Angels" who raised money for the church rebuilding. Angels are traditional ecclesiastical motifs suggesting Heavenly guidance. To maintain the artistic integrity of the overall composition, I used soft light colors with the moving flowing forms of the Angels to contrast and balance the many geometric and intense hues of the design symbols to give the tapestry dynamic vitality and cohesive organization.

With the design completed and approved by the Historical committee the next step was to transfer the paintings to a canvas grid in a process known as painting to the point. The designer is usually not the person who stitches the piece, so the color coding of the canvas serves as precise instructions for the needle worker. In creating my painting, I deliberately broke it down into 21 sections that could be used as guides for the stitchers. Because overall consistency of style and consistent tension on the yarn is essential to the attractiveness and durability of the finished tapestry, an experienced needlework teacher , Mrs. Margaret Brant.was hired to teach the needlework team these essentials. Dr. Mildred Kinstenmacher coordinated the group and organized meetings. Only volunteers with proven needlepointing skills were accepted to produce the needlework. Mrs. Linda Conlon cooperated on the systematic transfer of the painted design to the canvas grid. This process demanded patience and long hours of work to ensure that no color will fall on the empty space between grids. Linda and I worked amiably together to solve the problems that occurred in the transfer process. She is a talented needlework professional who spent thousands of hours painting and color coding the designs on the canvas pieces. The needleworkers who contributed the necessary diligence and caring effort to complete each part carried their work with them for many months of stitching. These dedicated people included Helen and Bruce Lutz, Ruth Draper who oversaw the completion and blocking of the tapestry, Mildred Kinstenmacher, Lois Wilson, Jean McDevitt, Eleanor Barwis, who organized and counted the amounts of yarn needed for each piece.   Other contributing needleworkers included Ann Grebe, Betty Harbison, Grace Karschner, Anne Rotenbury, Meriel Shaffer, and Shirley Tomkinson. After completion, the tapestry parts were joined together and blocked by the Creative Way Needlework shop.

Each person involved played a distinct and essential role in assuring that the completed tapestry is an aesthetically pleasing work of art worthy of taking a place in the Abington Presbyterian Church sanctuary . In particular, two members of the Historical committee. Dr. Bruce Lutz and Walter Lufkin, with Christian forbearance and gentlemanly determination, managed to soothe , encourage and shepherd folks with many differing opinions and ideas concerning this creative effort into a dedicated group of needleworkers. This group became intent upon stitching a colorful contemporary memento representing important events, individuals and symbols that characterize the unique history of this wonderful and continuously evolving congregation. The new tapestry represents total cooperation and commitment to create in a warmly soft and tactile medium, a colorful addition to this historic sanctuary. It took us only eight years to bring it to completion. I am pleased and honored to have contributed to its creation.