Alpha and Omega Windows
These two windows flank the entrance porch to the Church. They were donated by two longstanding and faithful members of the congregation and designed and installed by
Susan Bradbury of the Stained Glass Design Partnership, Kilmarnock.
Both windows were dedicated along with the Mary Cubie Window on Easter Sunday 2001.
The Alpha and Omega theme, also present in the Houldsworth Window and James Baird Window. In the Book of Revelation the term "I am the Alpha and Omega" is used three times
(Revelation 1:8, 21:6 & 22:13) and has long been taken to represent the eternal nature of God -
the beginning and the end. The concept of an eternal God is shared with Judaism and Islam.
In Christianity it is sometimes taken to represent Jesus and God, the Father as a single entity.
The Alpha window, taken from the first letter of the Greek alphabet is on the West facing wall of the Church porch, slightly strange since it represents the rising sun. At the base of the window the spring crocus can be seen and there are seven stars in the sky along with clouds. This also links with the Book of Revelation the seven stars are mentioned in
Ch1 v16 and possibly, by association, the seven Churches who are written to in Revelation.
Omega, as the last letter of the Greek alphabet is represented by the setting sun and is in the East facing wall of the entrance porch. The West wall of the the South transept can be seen though the window and part of the leaded outline of Noah in the Helen Muir Rankine Window can be see through the setting sun, just to the right of the Omega symbol. At the base of the window are fallen leaves and the seven stars and clouds seen in the Alpha Window are also present.
The clouds too refer to the Book of Revelation as echoed in the hymn
"Lo, he comes with clouds descending".