Members and friends of Epiphany Lutheran Church will gather
Sunday morning to celebrate the congregation’s 85th year in
southwest Racine. And when they do, they will dedicate new
liturgical artwork created by local artisans for the church’s
sanctuary, in honor of the anniversary. 

Designed to look like stained-glass windows, the two large
paintings decorate the walls on either side of the church’s
chancel. Each one depicts an event from the Epiphany season and –
together with the real stained glass window in the chancel’s center
– they form a triptych, or three-paneled format commonly used for
Christian altar paintings as far back as the Middle Ages.  

Epiphany’s new artwork was created by the father/daughter team
of the Rev. Nathan Pope and Melanie Schuette, who — along with a
couple other family artisans — make up Racine’s Avignon Art
Studios. Pope, a retired Lutheran pastor, is a woodworker. And
Schuette, who majored in art at the University of
Wisconsin-Whitewater, is a painter. Together, they have been
creating liturgical art for Lutheran church altars in Wisconsin and
Illinois since about 2004, according to Schuette, who is a member
of the First Evangelical Lutheran Church, where her father served
as pastor. Their latest work for Epiphany features arch-shaped, oak
frames which Pope designed to open and close, so that the paintings
inside can be changed. Fashioned after the chancel’s Good Shepherd
window, Pope’s frames include wooden dowels, made to look like the
metal rods on the original stained-glass window. And Schuette
included lead lines in her paintings to give them the appearance of
stained glass, explained the Rev. Michael Zarling, pastor of
Epiphany Lutheran Church.

Schuette also used a special painting technique to make it
appear as if light is shining through the paintings, she said. “I
wanted to match the stained-glass look of the window that already
existed.”

Finishing touches

The Avignon pieces are some of the finishing touches on a
renovation of Epiphany’s sanctuary, which started last year and
included painting and wallpapering, increased lighting, refinished
woodwork and more. The result is a brighter sanctuary that speaks
more to the original, timeless design of the church than the
1970s-era look it had for many years, said Zarling, who is in his
eighth year at Epiphany. 

Eventually, the congregation hopes to commission a total of four
sets of paintings from Schuette — two for each of the four
liturgical seasons, Zarling said. “Everything we’ve done in the
last couple years has been designed to help get people excited to
be in God’s house,” he said. “And the paintings will get people
excited about every season of the church year. It’s all about
glorifying God.”

The new paintings also serve an educational purpose, according
to the pastor, who recently asked some Sunday School children to
explain the stories told in the two panels to the congregation’s
adults during a service. Using the paintings as reference, the kids
shared the stories of Jesus’ baptism, and that of the Magi being
guided by the star. A few of those kids, who also attend the
Wisconsin Lutheran School adjacent to the church, shared their
thoughts about the new paintings with us as well.

“They help me understand the story of Jesus’ baptism,” said Owen
Dey, age 6, 

“I like how the three rays are coming down to show Jesus’
holiness,” said Zarling’s 8-year-old daughter, Lydia.

Avignon’s artwork also makes the church more colorful, said
Mikaileh Kosterman, 9.

“They look like stained glass, but they are just paintings,”
said Maddie Bailey, 8. 

“They look real,” agreed Cody Holmes, also 8. 

Special guests

In addition to the dedication of the artwork, Sunday’s
anniversary services will feature music by the church’s Festival
Choir, as well as a choral group from the Wisconsin Lutheran
School. The Rev. Thomas Kraus and the Rev. Robert Wassermann, both
former Epiphany pastors, have been invited to attend the
celebration, Zarling said. And a potluck breakfast will be served
between services.

Those gathered will celebrate 85 years of worship by the
congregation, which originated as an offshoot from the First
Evangelical Lutheran Church, and whose full name is still the
English Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Epiphany. What has kept
the church going all these years, Zarling said, is “its dedication
to the truth. Even through the tough times, our people have stood
on the solid rock of God’s word.”

The church’s adherence to the strict teachings of the Wisconsin
Evangelical Lutheran Synod, is also one of the things that has kept
Bill Thoemke coming to Epiphany since 1936. Thoemke, who’s late
wife’s family helped found the church, said he also enjoys the many
social opportunities it offers, in addition to its Sunday
services. 

Having the school adjacent to the church provides more
opportunity for such things, he said. “It is a friendly church,” he
said. “Anyone who believes what we do is always welcome.”

Thoemke originally moved with his wife and four daughters to the
southwest neighborhood so that they could attend Epiphany and the
Wisconsin Lutheran School. He said he is glad to see the
congregation growing again, with more younger families attending
under Zarling’s leadership.

What used to be a neighborhood church, with a number of members
living within walking distance, now has members coming from as far
away as 4 Mile Road, Sturtevant and Somers, Zarling said.