Pentecost

Pentecost Post-it mural created by 2010 Confirmation Class at Riverton Congregational Church.

On June 8 we will celebrate Pentecost, a holy day that marks the beginning of the Christian Church and celebrates the work of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost has always been one of my favorite holidays. I have to admit I have a soft spot for "minor" Christian holidays. By "minor" I don't mean unimportant, but uncommercialized. And I also don't think of Pentecost as a minor holiday at all. That's why I like to pull out as many stops as I can when observing Pentecost in church. This post will offer up some of the ways I've observed Pentecost, along with tips for DIYers who might want to try the things I've done.
I can't claim credit for the project depicted at the top of this post, the Post-It mural. I copied the idea from another church (Center Church on the Green in New Haven Connecticut), showed photos to my Confirmation class, handed them about $30 worth of Post-It notes and then gave them free reign to design and create their own version of a Post-It mural for Pentecost. I think they did a great job.

Another favorite Pentecost idea of mine is Prayer flags. I came up with the idea and a church member at First Church of Christ Congregational UCC in New Britain ran with it, buying and sewing the flags. The flags were available for inscribing with prayers (using Sharpie permanent ink pens) for a few weeks before the holiday, and then they were strung up outside of the church entrance for Pentecost.  Fortunately it was a breezy day!

Another way to observe Pentecost (which is conveniently relatively easy) is to create a Pentecost-themed altar display using candles and "hot" colors (red, orange, yellow and hot pink).

This altar display also featured suncatchers hung by fishing wire, which are somewhat easier to see in the second photo.

To create the suncatchers I used meltable plastic bits and some beads, but any method of creating suncatchers would work as well.

I also like to extend the festivities into the fellowship time, by including Pentecost- themed refreshments. One year I created a cupcake tower featuring red and pink roses (it was rose season, so the flowers and mint leaves came from my garden.)

I created the cupcake tower by gluing together cupcake rounds with red plastic cups in the middle, but I have since learned how to create reuseable cupcakes stands using recycled glass and industrial velcro.

For Pentecost you could even use red glass.

A simpler Pentecost treat involves using strawberries to decorate cupcakes or cakes.

 If you don't feel like cooking, you can even use a Sarah Lee Poundcake.

And, last but not least, you can encourage everyone to come to church wearing red:

Reformation Sunday 2010

In order to make the Reformation come alive for the congregation I crafted some hats in the style of famous Reformers. The hats were available for folks to try on during coffee hour; unfortunately I forgot my camera. I enlisted a willing volunteer at home in case you missed it. Here are the hats with the captions from the Wikipedia entries of the Reformers who wore them underneath. If you would like to learn more about the Protestant Reformation, you can learn more at the main Wikipedia entry.

Jan Hus also known as Jan Huss, John Hus, John Huss ; ca. 1369 Husinec, Bohemia – 6 July 1415 Constance (today Konstanz, Germany)), often referred to in English as John Huss or variations thereof, was a Czech priest, philosopher, reformer, and master at Charles University in Prague.

Martin Luther (10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest and professor of theology who initiated the Protestant Reformation.

ohn Wycliffe (pronounced /ˈwɪklɪf/; also spelled Wyclif, Wycliff, Wiclef, Wicliffe, orWickliffe) (c. 1324 – 31 December 1384) was an English theologian, lay preacher, translator,reformist and university teacher who was known as an early dissident in the Roman Catholic Church during the 14th century.

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (October 28, 1466 – July 12, 1536), sometimes known asDesiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam, was a Dutch Renaissance humanist and a Catholic priest and theologian.

Huldrych (or Ulrich) Zwingli (1 January 1484 – 11 October 1531) was a leader of the Reformation in Switzerland.

John Calvin (Middle French: Jean Cauvin) (10 July 1509 – 27 May 1564) was an influential French theologian and pastor during the Protestant Reformation.

The Blessing of the Animals or Pets in Church! What's Not to Love?

Today we held our annual Blessing of the Animals in honor of St. Francis. I started doing this eight years ago with no previous experience--I just googled "St. Francis Day" and "Blessing of the Animals" and turned up lots of resources. Today it's even easier to plan a Blessing of the Animals--many resources are available on Textweek.com.

Add some animal-themed refreshments, treats for pets, and you're looking at a fun and memorable event.