Submitted by David Teich of First Presbyterian Church of Hightstown Art Ministry .
Concept:
For Pentecost, we used the idea of cascading flamelike colors of organza fabric to suggest the flame of the spirit. “Flames“ poured out of the church attic window, landing on the outdoor cross that we had previously constructed for Lent and Easter.
Background:
Our art ministry has been active since 2011. Our goal has been to enhance worship, and our focus has been large scale installations in the sanctuary. However, with the pandemic we can no longer use that as a gathering space. So we turned our creative efforts to doing installations outside on the church grounds. Our previous indoor Pentecost installations celebrated the blessing of the Holy Spirit, also using organza fabric to remind us of the tongues of fire from Acts 2:1-21. Their movement as the air currents of the heating system moving through them suggested to us the presence of the spirit of the Lord and reminded us that the word for “spirit” in both Hebrew and Greek also meant “breath” or “wind”. The challenge was to take those ideas and adapt them to an outdoor setting.
How it Works:
Accessing the outdoor oval window from the attic above the ceiling of the sanctuary, a rope was lowered, attached to the fabric and pulled back up, bringing all the fabric with it. We now had a huge excess of fabric on the ground. We decided to leave all the excess to symbolize God’s spirit flowing out into the people and enhancing the depiction of Pentecost fire.
Result:
Locally, we saw people kneeling to pray near the cross; on Facebook, our posted photos generated 116 comments, 965 shares, 9,918 engagements and 128,675 people reached.
Materials Needed:
Hundreds of yards of organza cloth, ordered on the internet for as little as $1/yard. The cross was previously built of 4×6” lumber and covered with chicken wire, which allowed passers by to insert prayers, flowers, ribbons, or other items of spiritual significance to them.
Tools:
Wire, scissors, staple gun, and ordinary carpentry hand tools.
Contact information: [email protected]
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