From Denver-Each of the seven stained-glass windows on the south side of the Church of the Ascension represents one of the holy sacraments — baptism, communion, confession, matrimony, confirmation, ordination and anointing of the sick.
The only window that shattered when the landmark Denver church caught fire early Monday morning was the one that symbolized the ordination of the priesthood.
"It was a blow to my morale," said the Rev. Lucas Grubbs, as he stood in the still smoky-smelling sanctuary Thursday afternoon. "It pretty much summed up my week."
Grubbs has been in action since he was awakened by the sound of sirens at 3 a.m. and ran outside to find his church in flames. He's been talking with fire investigators,insurance agents and stained-glass restoration companies.
He said he also is wrestling with his "own demons," pondering an incident the afternoon before the fire, when he asked a homeless man to move out of the bushes next to the church.
Like the leaders of many urban parishes, Grubbs struggles to balance Christian moral teachings about serving the poor with the need to keep people safe, especially the 50 children, ages 3 to 5, who attend Ascension's preschool at the corner of East Sixth Avenue and Gilpin Street.
Grubbs was hired as rector of the 107-year-old Church of the Ascension less than a year ago. The small, close-knit parish cherishes its people and its history. The church started as a Sunday school in the Capitol Hill home of Thomas Ward, a lawyer who was friends with Theodore Roosevelt. Many prominent citizens integral to the development of Denver have been members. The funeral of Doud Eisenhower, the 3-year-old son of Dwight and Mamie Eisenhower, was held there, even though Mamie's family attended Corona Presbyterian Church a few blocks away.
More here-
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_23275931/rector-burned-denver-church-wrestles-issues-urban-homeless
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