The churchwarden petitioned for a faculty permitting the introduction of a stained glass window given in memory of the organist's husband, a local farmer whose association with the parish church had been indirect through the contributions of his wife. The advice of the Church Buildings Council (CBC), which expressed concerns about the design, had been sought late in the application, after a direction from the chancellor. The chancellor expressed concern at the lack of information which had initially been provided with the petition, including the failure to provide details of those considerations highlighted in the CBC guidance on stained glass: the contribution of the window to the worship and mission of the church, the brief which the artist had been asked to fulfil and how she believed it had been fulfilled, the method of manufacture and installation and what would happen to the old glass. As far as the legal test was concerned, a stained glass window given in memory of someone was different in nature from a memorial plaque. It should be an object of beauty and an adornment to the church in itself. For that reason, the requirement for an outstanding contribution by the person commemorated, as set down in Re St Margaret, Eartham [1991] WLR 1129, did not apply.

While appreciating its merit in limiting the number of applications for memorials, the chancellor expressed the view that there was something unattractively elitist about the Eartham test in devaluing the vast number of Christian people who live out their lives quietly and faithfully; he referred to the scriptural authority for the value of doing good in secret rather than measuring success by outward achievement. It was appropriate to commemorate the deceased in the way proposed. The faculty was granted. [RA]