Paraments
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MEMORIAL
GIFT: The Chancel Paraments
| Christmas Epiphany | Lent | Easter | Pentecost Day | Pentecost Season | Pentecost Harvest | Wedding Funeral |
CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY
Luke
2:11-12
Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
The white and gold of the Christmas paraments represent the pure and precious gift given to by God to his children. On the pulpit fall, a star shines down on the manger, which is formed by a crown resting upon a Chi cross. The cross-shaped star foreshadows the crucifixion to come. The crown serves both as a symbol of the three kings who visited the infant Jesus and as a reminder of Jesus’ kingship, in spite of his lowly birth in a manger.
The lectern bookmark combines the Chi/crown manger symbol with the shepherd’s crook, reminding us of Jesus, the Good Shepherd and of the shepherds who sought him in the manger. Together the symbols form the Chi Rho monogram of Christ.
The star is pieced from lame and brocade fabrics. (The brocade is from a tie I made as a gift for my father while I was in high school.) The other fabrics are cotton. The designs are appliqued onto a white cotton background. The bindings are bias strips of the gold fabrics.
Hymn: 159 There’s a Song in the Air!
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LENT
Philippians 2:8 And being found in appear-ance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!
The traditional color for the Lenten season is purple, for repentance, contemplation, suffering and endurance. Black, a color of sorrow, as well as sin, accents both the bookmark and the pulpit fall. Lent culminates in the events of Holy Week, which are symbolized in both paraments. The three interlocked quilt blocks at the bottom of the pulpit hanging are a traditional pattern known as "Hosanna" or "Palm Leaf". These recall the triumphal entry of Christ into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. The palm is also a symbol of royalty and spiritual victory. The cross, framed by a crown of thorns, reminds us of the sacrifice that climaxed Holy Week.
The Hosanna blocks were pieced by machine using the foundation method. Quarter sections of the block are repeated at the top of the fall and in a vertical row on the bookmark. The cross and thorns are hand-worked in reverse applique over a machine pieced landscape background. All the fabrics are cotton.
Hymn: 197 Beneath the Cross of Jesus
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EASTER
Psalms
72: 18 Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous
deeds.
Luke 24: 26 Did not the Christ have to suffer these thing and then enter his glory?
As with Christmas, the Easter colors are white for the purity of Jesus Christ and gold for His untarnishable, everlasting power and glory. The cross on the pulpit hanging is known as the Passion Cross because of its pointed tips. It is suspended in victory over the Lenten landscape, which has been transformed by the dawn of Easter morning from grim purples to golden light. The cross now represents the rebirth of God’s people through Jesus Christ. The lilies symbolize the purity of Christ. Because the beautiful blooms are born from a seemingly dead bulb, they also signify the mystery and glory of the resurrection.
The background of the pulpit fall is a machine-pieced landscape, the same as in the Lenten hanging. The passion cross is pieced from the same fabrics as the Christmas/Epiphany paraments. The lilies in both the bookmark and the pulpit hanging are hand appliquéd with three-dimensional flowers.
Hymn: 216 Christ the Lord is Risen Today
638 In the Bulb There is a Flower
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PENTECOST SUNDAY
Acts 2: 1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Pentecost Sunday begins the final and longest season of the liturgical year. Red, the color of fire, sacrifice, and evangelism, is the traditional color for this day. The backgrounds of both paraments are pieced to resemble flames of purification and the Holy Spirit. They also resemble streams of water, another Pentecost symbol, representing baptism. The dove of the spirit was one of the earliest Christian symbols. This one is taken from the First Christian Church logo. It is hand appliqued over the pieced background. On the bookmark, three white flames symbolize the tongues of fire that came to rest on each apostle.
Hymn:
245 Like the Murmur of the Dove’s Song
248 Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove
477 Pass It On
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PENTECOST SEASON
Isaiah 11:1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will take root.
Jeremiah 17: 7-8 But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Revelation
22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as
crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the
street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing
twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the
tree are for the healing of the nations.
The traditional color for the season of Pentecost is green, the color of renewal, growth, faith, and immortality. Of the many symbols that could be used during this sea- son, a very old one, the tree of life, has been chosen. The tree appears throughout the Old and New Testaments, from the Garden of Eden in Genesis to the New Jerusalem in Revelation. The Tree of Life has been a popular theme in many cultures – from the Middle East and Europe to Africa and aboriginal Australia. Many art forms have been used to depict the tree – mosaics, tapestries, paintings and many forms of needlework, including quilting. It represents knowledge, renewal, spiritual and church growth, eternal life.
According to legend, the dogwood, Missouri’s state tree, was originally a mighty tree with colorful blossoms. After the tree learned that its wood had been used for the cross on which Christ was crucified, the tree shriveled in shame and its blooms became white with sorrow, marked by rusty, nail-like tips. On the pulpit hanging, the tree has a cross-like shape. On the lectern bookmark, it has the appearance of a vine, a symbol of Christ’s living church and recalling several of His parables. Both the vine and tree forms are traditional in Tree of Life designs.
A variety of details may be discovered upon close examination. The state birds of Missouri (Eastern Bluebird) and Ohio (Cardinal) are both represented. The bookmark includes a goldfinch, blue jay, hummingbird, snail, lizard, iris, lily of the valley, and trumpet vine. The pulpit fall includes a bluebird, cardinal, ladybug, dragonfly, spider web, butterfly, rabbit, squirrel, frog, turtle, fish, cat tails, and lily of the valley.
The machine-pieced patchwork background is overlaid with hand applique. Some of the flowers and leaves, as well as a butterfly wing and the fish, have been worked in three dimensions. The tree trunks are hand-quilted. The remainder of the quilting was done by machine.
Hymn: 61 All Things Bright and Beautiful
604 That Cause Can Never Be Lost or Stayed
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PENTECOST SEASON/HARVEST
I Corinthians 11: 24-26 And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Because the Pentecost season lasts for almost half of the year, a second set of paraments has been created for the harvest season. The traditional color of green has been continued in the leaves and background. The wheat and grapes represent both the harvest and the Last Supper. Communion is also symbolized by the chalice and loaf on the pulpit hanging. Since Worldwide Communion Sunday is the first Sunday in October, this is an appropriate time to hang this parament set. Also, wheat, vines, harvest and wine figured in many of Jesus’ parables.
Both pieces are composed of two layers. The background of the pulpit fall is a landscape, hand appliqued and machine-quilted. The bookmark background is plain green with a machine-quilted wheat stalk. Both pieces are overlaid with three-dimensional fabric sculptures of wheat and grapes. On the pulpit hanging, this layer frames the communion emblems, which are also three-dimensional.
Hymn: 395 Seed, Scattered and Sown
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GOLDEN WEDDING
John
3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
This parament set does not represent a particular season, but is intended for special occasions such as weddings and funerals. As with the other white and gold sets, the colors symbolize purity, royalty, and eternity. The interlocked rings also represent eternal life and the oneness of marriage. The cross formed by the darker rings reminds us of the eternal life won for us through the sacrifice of our Lord.
The design is based on a traditional quilt pattern, Double Wedding Ring. Usually a pieced pattern, it has been worked here by hand in applique of bias strips. Both pieces are machine-quilted. All the fabrics are cotton.