<\/p>\n
John Klingensmith, left, and Sean Hilburn, of Stanton Studios, guide a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Sean\u00a0Hilburn, of Stanton Studios, guide a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Sean Hilburn, of Stanton Studios, guides a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
A stained glass window set to be refurbished is shown above the altar in the sanctuary at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Sean\u00a0Hilburn, of Stanton Studios, guide a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Richard Luna, senior pastor at St. John’s United Methodist Church, watches the progress as refurbished stained glass windows are reinstalled in the church\u2019s sanctuary in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Sean Hilburn, of Stanton Studios, guides a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
John Klingensmith, left, and Sean Hilburn, of Stanton Studios, guide a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
John Klingingsmith, of Stanton Studios, works on reinstalling a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Sean Hilburn, left, and Timothy Stanton, of Stanton Studios, guide a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
A historical marker is posted outside St. John’s United Methodist Church, where refurbished stained glass windows are being reinstalled, is shown in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
St. John’s United Methodist Church, where refurbished stained glass windows are being reinstalled, is shown in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
Balanced on a metal scaffold outside a historic church in Richmond, a group of stained-glass experts carefully restored a piece of a church window that\u2019s over 100 years old.<\/p>\n
A dwindling number of workers are trained in restoring and preserving stained glass pieces<\/a> like those at St. John\u2019s United Methodist Church. While the glass itself can last for centuries, the black metal lines between panels, called the lead matrix, wear out with age. St. John\u2019s windows had begun to bow after 103 years of exposure to Texas heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: Third Ward church’s stained glass commemorates Bible stories and Black history<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The church\u2019s small congregation, which sees about 275 people on an average weekend, was determined to save its windows, despite a price tag of about half a million dollars for the restoration.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe got some fourth and fifth generation people here who have grown up in this church, and they look at the stained glass, they look at the features of the church, and say: \u2018This is something worth keeping,\u2019\u201d said the Rev. Richard Luna.<\/p>\n John Klingensmith, left, and Timothy Stanton, of Stanton Studios, guide a refurbished stained glass window into place inside the sanctuary of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n The church sits across from Richmond City Hall and traces its history back to two years after Richmond\u2019s incorporation in 1837. Its current building is a Texas historic landmark, so\u00a0congregants have begun applying for grants<\/a> to help cover the cost of the restoration and already raised about $170,000, according to Luna.<\/p>\n Not every small church can afford to give a historic building the care it requires. But for those that can, a handful of experts still specialize in stained glass work \u2014 like Waco-based Stanton Studios, which is tasked with St. John\u2019s restoration.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Bryant Stanton founded the company in the 1970s, and all four of his sons are a part of it. Timothy and Jordan, who came to St. John\u2019s Tuesday to install some of the refurbished windows, said the dying art is a calling.\u00a0<\/p>\n READ MORE: Houston’s oldest Black Baptist church awarded part of $4 million grant to repair stained glass windows<\/a><\/p>\n “Being able to preserve some of the past is a really important job,” Jordan Stanton said in an interview. After a lifetime of restoring and building stained glass, along with wood and metal work, his eye is trained to assess the structure and design of any building he visits.\u00a0<\/p>\n He loves fostering long-term relationships with the people whose churches he works on. One example is First Presbyterian Church in Galveston; Stanton has been at work restoring the church\u2019s opalescent glass windows since 2007 and has just one window left. Timothy Stanton said that\u2019s the hardest job he\u2019s worked on, due to the age and intricacy of famed artist Louis Comfort Tiffany\u2019s design.\u00a0<\/p>\n To restore the windows, Jordan Stanton said they must be completely disassembled so the lead matrix connecting the glass pieces can be swapped out. The pieces are soaked in a solution of detergents for 24 hours, cleaned with a soft brush, and repainted if necessary. Any broken or mismatched glass is mended or replaced.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The crew from Stanton Studios lift a refurbished stained glass window up a scaffold as they reinstall it at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Richmond, Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026.<\/p>\n Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n Stanton is one of only about three art glass manufacturers in the country that specializes in creating original stained glass pieces, not just restoring them. That\u2019s part of the work they\u2019re doing for First Baptist Church in Dallas<\/a>, one of Texas\u2019 largest congregations. After the church\u2019s historic sanctuary burned down in a four-alarm fire in 2024, the congregation commissioned Stanton to create 16 brand new pieces of glass for a rebuild of that sanctuary, according to Jordan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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