After an EF5 tornado struck the community in 2011, Joplin First Community Church reached out to Soos Stained Glass for help in restoring their sanctuary.  The wall that had displayed a beautiful multi-paned modern window had collapsed, leaving an empty hole.  The featured stained glass window that highlighted the 1960 church structure was gone – demolished, only small bits of glass scattered about the ground.  

 

The task given to Soos was to restore the window – without the window available.  Church members were asked to look for any pictures that might feature the window; parts of it were found in the background of a few wedding pictures and other celebrations.  But no complete picture existed.  A small box of broken glass shards,  collected from the ground, were the guide to recreating the centerpiece of the sanctuary. This barely qualified as having remnants to aid the rebuilding.

 

The Soos craftsmen set to work to bring the glory of the sanctuary back to this stricken congregation.  A new window as close to the original design as possible was cut and built.  New frames and new exterior glazing were used in the new wall that was constructed. The “new” replacement stained glass window gave the congregation a sense of continuity after such a tragedy.