Historic church windows cleaned, restored in yearlong process

 

Peter Radakovich, left, owner and liturgical artisan at Radakovich Perfection, and the Rev. Mike Prebynski, pastor at First Baptist Church of Barberton, stand next to the stained glass windows in the sanctuary of the church that have been cleaned, restored and reinstalled in the church. The windows will continue to be restored in a yearlong process. Church services and events continue as usual.

By CHRISTINA McCUNE
BGNN managing editor

BARBERTON  In one way or another, many people have a connection to First Baptist Church of Barberton.

They may have grown up in the downtown church. They may have attended a Sunday service or Christmas service or, sadly, even a funeral at First Baptist. Some families have been church members for years. Others have recently begun attending services.

The landmark church, 254 Sixth St. NW, is one that many people may drive or walk past. Some may be familiar with the kind church volunteers handing bottles of water from the church parking lot to Labor Day parade participants as they finish the parade route.

“It’s a far-reaching church,” said the Rev. Mike Prebynski, who has been pastor at First Baptist Church of Barberton for the past 12 years. “It never fails. There are always people I’m talking to out in the community that have been touched by this church.”

“They used to maybe go here, maybe they were baptized here, maybe they were married here. … if you’ve been around 125 years you’re going to hopefully have an impact on the community.”

The historic church was founded in 1904 and will mark 125 years in 1929.

Dozens of stained glass windows on all sides of the sanctuary with parts of Scriptures, names of disciples, symbols and other details stand out on the church. Thanks to a restoration project going on all year, the carefully cleaned and restored windows are beginning to let the sun shine in on congregants more than they have in years. And for those passing by, clear refurbished windows will help the First Baptist Church of Barberton glow even more than it usually does from the warmth and light inside.

“We want to remind people that we’re still here and we’re still serving the Lord and we want to do everything we can to reach our community,” he said.

Prebynski said he often hears comments from people remarking on the stained glass and the historical characteristics of the church.

“A lot of churches are doing everything they can to not look like a church,” Prebynski said. “We understand, the church body understands the importance of the historical aspects of the church and we’re thrilled with the response that people are donating and contributing to the project. That’s really exciting to see people get involved and make things happen.”

Prebynski said recently the son of one of the church’s members donated $5,000 toward the church window project.

“It was pretty incredible,” he said. “We’ve also had folks outside First Baptist Church that have been blessed one way or another by the church and have also contributed to the project.”

Over the years, the church has done upgrading such as renovating and improving sound and lighting.

“Lights are invigorating,” Prebynski said. “Light enhances things.”

Property manager Rex Crain noticed the sun and light didn’t seem to be shining through the beautiful windows as it should be and, alarmingly, as he worked and cleaned around the church he noted how the aging windows were warped.

“If we don’t take care of this they’re going to start falling out,” Crain said. “That’s why I was bringing it to the board’s attention, to say we should do something about this. It’s the same thing as taking care of the roof and taking care of all the other stuff in the building. I just thought it was a good idea because they’re so old once they’re gone they’re gone, but if you can catch them before they get too bad you can restore them.”

As far as he knows, this is the first time the windows are being restored. The process of restoration is as much of an art as the stained glass itself.

Radakovich Perfection Interior Design, a family business in Canton since 1969, which has been endorsed by the Stark County Historical and Preservation Society, has been commissioned to clean and restore the windows. Thirty-six windows are being restored in the first phase, which began at the beginning of September. So far, nine windows have been carefully removed and taken back to owner and liturgical artisan Peter Radakovich’s studio to clean and restore. They were reinstalled last week and nine more were removed. Plastic has covered the pews to help protect them from dust from the project but none of the church services have been affected.

According to information provided, Radakovich wrote that he has enjoyed working on the First Baptist Church of Barberton project and working with Prebynski and Crain.

The company, which specializes in the beautification and preservation of churches, carefully removes each window from the stone frame. Windows have been tagged and photographed before removal. Each window is crated and taken to their shop, completely dismantled and the old lead discarded. Any broken glass will be duplicated to an exact color and glass texture to match. Windows will be re-leaded with restoration grade lead. The windows will be installed into the existing tagged stone frames and will be glazed with a special sealant.

“When it’s all said and done they’ll look brand new really so it’s exciting,” Prebynski said.

Prebynski tells a story about how the church is known as being friendly and welcoming. He said a couple new faces have been in attendance the past few weeks and he learned what drew two friends to First Baptist was that they were having car trouble and a couple of people from the church helped them start their car. The two friends began attending the church.
“Those little acts of kindness go a long way,” Prebynski said.

He said he would like to talk to the church board about the possibility of leaving the lights on all night every so often so passersby can enjoy the restored stained glass windows.

The church has Sunday School for all ages 9:30 a.m. and worship service at 10:30 a.m. Sundays.

If anyone is interested in donating or would like more information about the window restoration project or any other information about the church, they may call the church at 330-745-4424. Look for “First Baptist Church of Barberton” on Facebook.

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