Baptismal Font Design Ideas

We're always drawing!  We approach each custom project by putting the church's needs first.  Our designs are inspired by existing architecture and furniture in the church.  We constantly revise our drawings until they are the right fit for the church.  Please use the following pictures to brainstorm ideas for a new baptismal font at your church.

 

 

 

Ambo Design Ideas

The following pictures show Ambos that Henninger's has designed recently.  We've built a database of Ambos that we like to show churches that are considering a new ambo.  Looking and shapes, and materials helps determine what the church likes and doesn't like.  Please use this blog post to brainstorm ideas for your Ambo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland

Henninger's is very proud of our recent renovation of the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Cleveland, Ohio. Our crew began work on the day after Christmas and finished before Holy Week. An incredible amount of work was done during that span, working nights and weekends to accommodate the Cathedral's busy mass schedule. The following before and after pictures display the amazing transformation of the worship space.

Pew and wainscoting refinishing

Refinishing of antique sanctuary lamp and woodworking

 

 

 

New porcelain tile under pews, new kneelers

Our Lady of Grace Church - Lancaster, SC

A few years ago, Henninger's installed two marble altars, a marble ambo, and marble baptismal font at St. Philip Neri Church in Fort Mill, SC.  Those pieces of furniture were created from new and used marble from Henninger's warehouse.  Under the guidance of pastor, Rev. John Guiliani, St. Philip Neri sponsors a Mission Church: Our Lady of Grace.  Located in Indian Land, SC, (about 15 miles southeast of St. Philip Neri, Our Lady of Grace was established as a Catholic Community and Mission Church in 2008.

Our Lady of Grace's first mass in February, 2008 had an attendance of about 250.  It didn't take long for the church to outgrow its first worship space.  In the last 8 years, the congregation has grown to 360 families with weekend masses drawing more than 400.

Since Fr. Guiliani worked with Henninger's at St. Philip Neri, it was an easy decision to use our team for Our Lady of Grace.  Old marble was selected from our warehouse, along with metalware, and Stations of the Cross.

 

Designs were drawn up and plans were made.

 

Statues were selected from our catalog:

Our crew traveled to South Carolina for the installation after July 4th, 2016.  The install took about one week.

 

Our Lady of Grace's new church will seat approximately 650 people, have nine multi-purpose rooms, a kitchen, offices for staff and a large multi-purpose room for parish events. Its dedication is scheduled for August 15 on the Feast of the Solemnity of Mary.

Clergy Box

Clergy Box is a no commitment subscription plan that Henninger's offers busy priests who don't have time to shop for clergy apparel.


At one time, summer meant a slower period in the calendar for everyone - clergy included. But as demands on everyone's schedule increases, "free" time has decreased across the board. Whether you're covering multiple churches, coordinating communion calls, wake services, or running to Costco on your "day off" for items needed for the Church, your time has become a sought after commodity.

We hear it in in our showroom when priests come to pick up hosts or linens on their way to another errand. We also see the number of internet orders placed after midnight on Tuesday... the only time that shopping for yourself has become feasible. With that in mind, Henninger's is introducing a new way to shop for clergy apparel: Clergy Box.

With Henninger's Clergy Box, you can pick the the type of item to fill your box (clergy shirts, albs, or both), the frequency of the shipments, and the budget per shipment. If you need help picking the right box for you, give us a call at (800) 362-0217. We are happy to walk you through the options. We welcome your feedback to this new subscription service offering. Henninger's wants to make it easy for you to stock up on the clergy apparel that you need.

Because we're so excited about Clergy Box, we are offering free shipping, and you will always receive a higher dollar value on your order than the amount you are billed. For example, if you select a $400 box, we might send you $440 or $410 worth of albs and shirts, but you will always be billed $400. All items are returnable and exchangeable, and we'll pay the freight both ways.

What will be in your Clergy Box and how often will you receive it?  You might select the $100 clergy shirt box with a frequency of "ONCE A YEAR".  You will likely receive two clergy long sleeve tab collar black clergy shirts - once now, and again every 12 months.

Clergy Box subscriptions cannot be combined with any other offers or discounts.

 

New 2017 vestments by Slabbinck

Slabbinck recently released their newest line of vestments. The following chasubles are a nice representation of their latest offering:

Slabbinck 5226 Vestment $890.00

Slabbinck 5230 Vestment $450.00

Slabbinck 5141 Vestment $1,000.00

 

Slabbinck 2-5239 vestment $820.00
 

164 Stained Glass Windows (Church of St Paul in Westerville, Ohio)

This article was originally posted by New Liturgical Movement and Gregory DiPippo.  Please visit New Liturgical Movement here. 

We are excited to announce the completion of this 6 year project.  Congratulations to artist Bruce Buchanan for all of your hard work and the descriptions below.  Henninger's owes a special thanks to Helmut Naunheimer and Rev. Charles Klinger of St. Paul the Apostle.  Fr. Charlie and Helmut have been wonderful to work with.  Their vision and dedication made this project possible.

In June 2010, the church of Saint Paul the Apostle in Westerville, Ohio, celebrated the dedication of its new building. About a year earlier, the artists and craftsmen of Cleveland-based Henningers Inc started work on what would eventually be 164 new and refurbished stained glass windows for the new building. Now, years later, the last of these windows are finally being installed, the end of a long and complicated process.

Working on a window of Our Lady of Mt Carmel

The finished product, along with St Sebastian

In 2009, the parish was about to begin construction of a new church, the third building in its history, and the largest Catholic Church in Ohio. As the building project itself was such a large one, there were no immediate plans for stained glass; that would come later, or so it was thought. The Diocese of Cleveland, however, had just undergone a significant downsizing and consolidated many of its parishes, leaving many buildings empty, and a great many stained glass windows in crates. The opportunity to re-use these discarded windows was one which could not be passed up.

Saint Paul purchased stained glass windows, all between 70 to 100 years old, from three separate closed churches. One set had incredibly colorful geometric patterns and dozens of medallions of saints and religious symbols, another group had large narrative scenes of the New and Old Testament, with ornate painted scrollwork borders. The third set had large round windows with scenes from the life of Christ. All of the windows were beautiful in their own way, but markedly different in style; the challenge would be to synthesize the windows into a cohesive overall scheme.

A decorative zig-zag border pattern was pulled from the geometric windows, then copied and used in

every new window in the church. The elaborately painted scrollwork from the narrative windows was duplicated and repeated in nameplates and decorative flourishes throughout the church, while stenciled rosettes were copied and incorporated in newly created windows over the front doors. A new background grid pattern of brown and clear swirled glass would provide a unifying framework for the various scenes and saints and symbols. Every window in the church was designed to fit in the new openings with mixed stylistic elements that could harmoniously sit together.

Given that the windows were so old, they all benefited from being taken apart, cleaned, and rebuilt with new lead, a typical procedure with older, time-worn stained glass panels. Once apart, they could be re-arranged to the new specifications. Some parts, like the geometric knot patterns and the painted scenes were rebuilt exactly as they had been. Other decorative painted pieces were too good not to re-purpose and incorporate wherever possible. New glass borders and backgrounds were cut to frame the painted scenes and medallions.

There were dozens of windows to re-arrange and fit into the new church’s design scheme, but one could hardly expect the found treasures to meet all of the needs of the new church. There were Saints and symbols that would need to be made from scratch to match the old glass. In the end, two dozen new medallions were painted to complete the clerestory, confessionals, and shrines. A series of 40 new standing-figure Saint windows were created to line the ambulatory around the perimeter of the church. Working with the parish and the donors to design the medallions and Saint windows was an incredible learning process, which gave us the opportunity to research lesser known Saints and learn more about the ones we thought we knew.

St Charles Borromeo

Preparatory work for a window of St Damian of Molokai, and the final product.

Perhaps the most satisfying design challenge of the whole project was the 12 foot rose window, with a crucifixion scene surrounded by twelve petals. The image of Christ on the cross with adoring angels was originally a tall thin lancet in three panels. Here, new glass was added to expand the sky and clouds and make a round center for the rose. The twelve petals around it, while mostly new, incorporate old glass and design motifs from all of the churches from which the old stained glass had been purchased. This kaleidoscope of glass is a new creation made from the old, so that the grandest window of this new church pays homage to the old churches that made this project possible.

Over the course of the years, it has been satisfying to see Saint Paul the Apostle Church slowly filled with stained glass. Bit by bit, window by window, patron by patron, the place has been transformed. It will be satisfying to install the last of the remaining windows, but the biggest change came last December when the final windows in the sanctuary itself were installed. The natural light in the church was forever changed. The outside world was obscured, and the sacred space inside felt different, becoming quieter and more serene. Old stained glass windows that had watched over worshipers for 100 years were once again doing their work.