WEST COVINA UMC

                Tell Me About the Chancel Paraments and Hanging Banners

 

The Christian year has two cycles: the Christmas Cycle (Advent-Christmas-Epiphany) and the Easter Cycle (Lent-Easter-Pentecost). Within each cycle are a preparatory season symbolized by the color purple and a festival season symbolized by the color white. After each cycle there is an ordinary time of growth symbolized the color green. Thus there is a sequence of seasons using purple, white, and green in that order twice each year.

We have been in what is called Ordinary Time, the season after Pentecost.  During this period we use the color Green that represents growth. The paraments are the hanging on the pulpit, lectern, and altar.

 

The paraments we have been using since June were made by Shirley Roberts to replace the original set purchased in the mid 1980s as a memorial to Cathy Goetz by her mother-in-law Flo Goetz. 

 

The pulpit hanging is a cross and orb.  The symbol of the cross surmounting the orb of the world signifies the supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal world and the triumph of our Savior over sin.  The triangle within the circle represents God the father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

The altar hanging is the Ship (Bark of St. Peter) as a Symbol of the Church.  Part of the imagery comes from the ark saving Noah's family during the Flood (1 Peter 3:20-21) and Jesus protecting Peter's boat and the apostles on the stormy Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41).

The lectern hanging is the descending dove at the baptism of Christ.

 

The two green banners hanging on the back wall were created by Judy Higgins, Gina Cline and Shirley Roberts.

The left banner represents the cross of the risen Christ and the symbols of grapes for wine and Wheat for bread of the Last Supper.

The right banner represents the grapevine and branches based on the scripture of John 15:1-2.

 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.  He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.”