This painting is derived from an illustration which Caulfield found in a book on churches. The title of the particular chapter was 'The Parish Church'. Caulfield chose to depict a church, partly because it was an unusual subject to find in art in the 1960s, a time when Pop Art was the dominant style. The artist also had in mind a cardboard church that he had made when he was a child. The model had stained-glass windows, which glowed brightly, when the building was lit from the inside.