Father George Mathis, left, works with a volunteer at St. Francis de Sales mission in Idabel, Okla., guiding the assembly of a stained-glass window he designed for the church. He's been involved in many liturgical art and design projects, primarily for Glenmary missions, since he began his late-life ministry.

Since Father George Mathis entered Glenmary in 1948, he’s used his talents to serve others in an extremely wide range of roles—including associate pastor and pastor for six missions, administrative council member, promotion and vocation director, formation director and personnel director. But it wasn’t till much later in life, he says, that he had the chance to pursue his lifelong passion as “a frustrated artist and engineer.”

The result has been a fulfilling liturgical art and design ministry—one in which he’s still active at age 81—that has had a remarkable impact on many Glenmary missions, other churches and people.

During a year of renewal in 1977-78, Father George received approval to study and work in various art media in the United States and Europe. To cap off his year, he learned stained-glass art from a master craftsman in Assisi, Italy. He found out he loved this glass work because of its beauty and its artistic and engineering challenges.

When he returned, he became pastor of Glenmary missions in Pulaski and Fayetteville, Tenn. Providentially, the Fayetteville congregation had just finished building a new church, and they wanted to add 10 stained-glass windows. Father George readily agreed to take on the job and he introduced a collaborative process that he’s repeated many times since.

“First I asked for input from the building committee and parishioners on the window themes and style,” he says. “Then I created detailed designs that the committee reviewed and approved. I asked for volunteers I could train to cut glass and assemble the windows—I thought some parishioners would find the work satisfying and enjoyable. I supervised them until they could work on their own. And I checked in frequently to make sure things were going well.”

One important reason he used this group method was to “make it affordable for financially strapped congregations to bring color, beauty and inspiration into their worship spaces with stained glass.” He found using this method costs only about 10 percent of what a professional studio would charge.

Father George says he also learned, through the Fayetteville project and others, what the most important benefit is: the work brings communities together. After completing these group projects, he says, “The volunteers always say they feel closer to one another. And they are thrilled and proud about what they’ve helped create.” In 1986, he completed his second group project for the Glenmary mission in Louisville, Ga.

The key turning point for his new ministry, though, was when he requested and received Glenmary senior-member status at age 65 in 1993, so he could have more time for his art and design work. “God gave me these talents too,” he says, “and I wanted more time to use and share them.”

He has now completed 15 stained-glass projects throughout the Glenmary mission areas. The list also includes windows for Glenmary missions in Swainsboro, Ga., Jefferson, N.C., Pulaski, Tenn., Andrews, N.C., Franklin, Ky., Madisonville, Tenn., Idabel, Okla., and Logan, W.Va.; Glenmary’s Nashville office and chapel; Catholic churches in Abingdon and Bristol, Va.; a Christian church in Kingsport, Tenn.; and the home of a retiring Kingsport RCIA director (a small, just-completed project). He employed the group method on 11 jobs—an approach that, to his knowledge, no one else uses.

In addition, Father George has used an inexpensive sandblasting technique—“another engineering challenge,” he says—to add beauty to clear-glass windows and doors at Glenmary missions in Clintwood, Va., and Franklin, Ky. This method involves creating a design and then using sandblasting to etch the design into glass.

Beyond glass projects, Father George says another part of his ministry over the years has been serving as a liturgical design consultant for Glenmary missions and other small rural parishes that can’t afford expensive consultants. “I work with pastors involved in building and renovation projects,” he says.

“Many don’t have a good aesthetic sense, so I help them determine the best use and design of liturgical space, including furnishings. I also help educate parish members about what a worship space can be.”

He’s still in demand for projects, and he says he’ll work as long as his health allows. Glenmary’s Ripley, Miss., mission recently broke ground for a new church, and the congregation has already asked Father George to design and coordinate the creation of stained-glass windows in 2010.

“I feel like I become part of these communities too,” he says. “It’s wonderful to see the final work. It’s also very fulfilling to know these projects actually make parish communities stronger—and that the work keeps touching and inspiring people who belong to or visit the churches.”

This article originally appeared in the January 2010 Boost-A-Month Club Newsletter