News / religion
St Mary Redcliffe’s new windows to show Jesus in multiple ethnicities
St Mary Redcliffe Church needed permission from an ancient ecclesiastical court in order to replace their stained glass windows commemorating Edward Colston.
That permission has now been granted by the Consistory Court of the Diocese of Bristol, a body founded in the 16th century that once dealt with offenses including sexual immorality, blasphemy and clerical misdemeanours.
In his judgement, diocese chancellor, Justin Gau, said that “the historical behaviour of (St Mary Redcliffe) in excusing the life of Colston… is a sin”.
is needed now More than ever
Gau added: “To encourage parishioners to look at a memorial to a slave trader and to be encourage to ‘Go thou and do likewise’ is not only grotesque but entirely contrary to the Gospel command to love one another.”
As Bristol24/7 first reported in 2022, the windows commemorating Colston will be replaced by designs depicting Jesus in multiple ethnicities.
The new windows show Jesus in a number of different situations, including him joining the Bristol bus boycott, on a Bristol ship on a slaving voyage, as a child refugee fleeing to Egypt and among a diverse group of neighbours.
The designs by Ealish Swift will be the first images of a non-white Christ to be installed within the church, aiming to “to counter the Anglo-centric narrative of white Jesus”.
Jesus as a child refugee on an inflatable boat is among Easlish Swift’s winning designs – image: Easlish Swift
The vicar of St Mary Redcliffe, canon Dan Tyndall, said: “The toppling of Edward Colston turned an international spotlight onto Bristol and its entangled history profiting, as it most certainly did, from human trafficking.
“The opportunity to reimagine how we can tell the story of the Good Samaritan was grasped enthusiastically by the church.
“By then we had already laid aside a cope with a Moor’s head symbol, a modern nativity set had
been commissioned to replace a staid Victorian model and we had welcomed the artist collective alldaybreakfast with their installation on journeys, helping us reflect on both modern and historic slavery.
“As part of our response we have grown our social action programme and now run Redcliffe Community Hub in a local shop unit, providing information, advice, clinics and, throughout the winter, a warm space in one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country.”
The bus in Easlish Swift’s Bristol bus boycott design was originally red but has now been turned to the correct shade of green – image: Easlish Swift
Main image: Easlish Swift
Read next:
- The Colston statue still standing in Bristol
- Jesus joins Bristol bus boycott in new stained glass window
- 14 things you probably didn’t know about St Mary Redcliffe
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