Returning to the stained-glass windows in Holy Trinity Church we take a closer look at the three south facing stained glass panels on the right of the chancel. They are all about Baptism.

The central panel in the south window features Jesus’ own Baptism by John the Baptist in the River Jordan and the text reads: “This is My Beloved Son” confirming that Jesus was indeed the Son of God – the long-awaited Messiah.

At the base of this window is a memorial inscription dedicated to members of the multigenerational Pettipher family who were farmers in Sibford Ferris and served the village community in many different ways.

The window to the right of the central panel depicts Nicodemus coming to Jesus by night and Jesus explaining to him that you have to be born again, spiritually not physically, so making it clear that baptism is a new birth. The text reads: “Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”

The images in the window on the left-hand side are less certain but are thought to represent Abraham being visited by three strangers, three men, while he was out in the countryside. A further reference possibly to the three ‘persons’ of the Holy Trinity. The inscription reads: “Three men stood by thee.”

Maureen Hicks