Church-y Craftiness

This coming Sunday is Pentecost, when the church celebrates the Holy Spirit coming to the disciples.  It is also the birthday of the church universal as it is often seen as the day the followers of Jesus moved from being a small group to a movement. 

Pentecost is celebrated in many ways, the most basic way is with people wearing red, the color of the day and having bright red paraments (the cloth covering the altar and the pulpit and the stole (aka scarf) the pastor wears).  Often the readings or a portion of them are read in a variety of languages since the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the ability to speak in other languages. 

Bethlehem will do these things but also the church will be DECORATED!  A bunch of geraniums are ordered to go behind the altar, around the pulpit and in the window sills.  Balloons will float at the end of the pews and outside the doors.  And two new things are happening, hence my church-y craftiness. 

The first is ribbon poles.  During the procession of the cross, two of our youth will follow the cross, waving poles of red ribbons.  A member of the congregation and myself saw this at another church when we went to the Book of Faith Festival the other week.  My internship congregation discussed making these while I was there (though I cannot remember them being used).  So here is what I did.  I got to 1/2 inch pvc pipe, some white spray paint for plastic, some binder clips (can be found at any office supply store) and a bunch of red ribbons (satin mainly since it flows well) of varying widths and shades.

I went with 7 foot pipes since Bethlehem's ceiling is sort of low and chandeliers hang in the aisle (both the processional cross and the cross that we used on Good Friday have been hit on a chandelier before).  My first step was to drill a small hole about a 1/2 inch down from the top of the pipe.  I then went to town spray painting the pipes. 

Next I used my sewing machine and just a needle and thread to sew the top 1/4 to 1/2 inch of fabric over to make little loops in the ribbons.  The ribbons were between 4 and 6 feet in length.  And then I threaded the loops through the binder clip. And then attached the binder clip to the pole through the hole that I drilled in it. 

The finished product:  

They don't look like much now, but waving in the sanctuary they will look beautiful! 

The other project I enlisted the help of the Sunday School kids.  This last Sunday I taught a brief lesson on the Holy Spirit and we made origami doves made from dollies.  (Click here to find out how to make them)   The dove is one of the symbols of the Holy Spirit.  At Jesus' baptism the Holy Spirit came in the form of a dove.  All total they kids made 60 of them.  So yesterday I spent a good portion of the day putting thread through them so we can hang them from the chandeliers or other parts of the ceiling.  Right now I have a flock of origami doves in my dining room. 

I'm decorating the sanctuary on Saturday morning with some parishioners.  I'm excited to see how great the place will look on Sunday with flowers, balloons, doves, and streamers.  But I'm more excited for Sunday worship when people will read John 3:16 in Swedish, Russian, Spanish, French, German, Akkadian, Sumerian, Ukrainian, Japanese, and Polish.

Oh and did I mention yet that both my parents and in-laws will be there?  Bob is graduating this weekend, convocation on Sunday and commencement and degree ceremony on Monday.  He has translated John 3:16 into both Akkadian and Sumerian and I think it is appropriate and exciting that he gets to use both on his graduation day in front of his parents.  More about graduation weekend coming soon.