St. Edmond's Church Restores Stained Glass

by John Phillips, Jr., President, Associated Crafts, Jan 2009

A company called Associated Crafts has carefully removed the old storm covering over the stained glass windows of St. Edmond’s Roman Catholic Church in Rehoboth Beach, DE. They then repaired the windows and installed a new protective covering to both preserve the historic stained glass windows as well as to insulate the church.

John Phillips, Sr., CEO of Associated Crafts, said his company has been restoring, replacing and installing stained glass windows for over 10 years, but, actually, he and the other owners of the company have more than 100 years of combined experience. Associated Crafts has seven crews that travel nationwide and they have completed more than 300 stained glass windows projects.

The key to our success has been Associated Crafts’ ability as a full-service stained glass studio to provide customers with a complete turnkey package of repair, historic restoration and installations of protective coverings. Instead of church officials, with limited staff and limited time, having to seek out and supervise separate contractors for the separate tasks, churches can now hire one company that specializes in all areas. Associated Crafts provides each customer with an onsite project manager and turnkey packages saving the customer from having to coordinate multiple contactors. We also design and manufacture our own custom-glazing system complete with contoured framing and in-framing ventilation.

In the process of repairing historic windows we perform a variety of services based on the churches’ needs. Not only does Associated Crafts repair the stained glass but we can also repair and maintain the frames.

To preserve the beauty, we apply protective glazing to protect, insulate and preserve the stained glass windows. We also have a rescued window departmen, in which we work with closing or relocating churches to restore and resale their existing stained glass. We are delighted to be able to save beautiful and sometimes historic works of art - from high-end studios like Tiffany, Mayer of Munich, and LaFarge - for use in new settings. We hope churches across the country become aware of this option of buying or selling decades-old stained glass windows. It has worked out to be a win-win situation for all the churches involved.

When people walk by and see our scaffolds around stained glass windows, they frequently have questions, so we’ve learned to have brochures available because we welcome questions and spectators. Our skilled craftsmen in the on-site teams will work around the church’s schedule of services and activities to complete the process with minimal inconvenience to the client.

Associated Crafts is family owned and operated - and we take pride in honoring the past while providing restoration and preservation services to religious institutions nationwide.”

John Phillips, Jr. is president of Associated Crafts, one of the nation's premier full-service stained-glass studios. For more information, including a free copy of the informative manual, "Preserving Your Stained Glass Windows: A Resource Guide for Your Stained Glass Project", visit www.AssociatedCrafts.com,(a.k.a. www.Church-Stained-Glass-Windows.com). Associated Crafts is a full-service studio providing a full range of services including new windows, on-site repair, in-studio repair, installation of protective coverings, frame repair, and reselling of used windows.