Bristol church window to show Jesus in multiple ethnicities

The images will be the first of a non-white Jesus to be installed in the church

Stained glass windows depicting Jesus in multiple ethnicities will be installed at a Bristol church.

St Mary Redcliffe Church is replacing windows commemorating slave trader Edward Colston which were removed after the fall of his statue in 2020.

They show Jesus joining the Bristol bus boycott, on a ship on a slaving voyage, as a child refugee, and among a diverse group of neighbours.

The windows were designed by competition winner Ealish Swift.

One design shows Jesus joining the Bristol bus boycott

St Mary's Redcliffe was granted permission by The Consistory Court of The Diocese of Bristol to install the new designs.

In his ruling, Justin Gau, Chancellor of the Diocese of Bristol, agreed that the original Victorian panels hindered the church from its mission of "singing the song of faith and justice".

They will be the first images of a non-white Jesus to be installed in the church.

Another panel will show Jesus on a ship on a slaving voyage

During 2021, the church ran a competition for four new designs to replace the windows.

It received dozens of entries and five designs were shortlisted and displayed in an exhibition, with the public invited to provide feedback.

Local junior doctor Ealish Swift won the competition with designs that referred to Bristol's multicultural past and present.

One panel shows Jesus as a child refugee fleeing to Egypt

Vicar of St Mary Redcliffe, Canon Dan Tyndall, said: "The toppling of Edward Colston turned an international spotlight onto Bristol and its entangled history profiting, as it most certainly did, from human trafficking.

"The opportunity to reimagine how we can tell the story of the Good Samaritan was grasped enthusiastically by the church.

"We look forward to the new windows being installed."

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