Pulpit Banners
ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Each parament was hand cut, sewn, and painted with acrylic paint on vinyl fabric. The imagery seeks to illuminate the ideas, themes, and feelings of the liturgical seasons. Metallic gold shows up on each panel to symbolize God’s presence from season to season.
Worship at Auburn First Baptist follows the seasons of the Church Year. These seasons follow the rhythms of the life of Jesus and the growth of the Church. These rhythms and routines shape our lives by allowing the stories of scripture to impact our community of faith.
ADVENT
We anticipate the birth of Jesus and focus on the hope, peace, joy, and love of God during the four Sundays of Advent.
Prepare the way for the Lord; make his paths straight. Every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be leveled. The crooked will be made straight and the rough places made smooth. All humanity will see God’s salvation. Luke 3:4b-6
As the beginning of the church year, Advent signals a time of anticipation for a world made new through Christ’s birth. In this parament, the star of Bethlehem, symbolizing the inbreaking of God, glimmers in a midnight sky. The landscape shifts from hills to flat land to represent the mountains made low and the valleys lifted up. All of creation levels with equilibrium and harmony. The traditional colors for Advent, purple and midnight blue, punctuate the scene.
CHRISTMAS/EPIPHANY
We celebrate the arrival of the Light of the World! The season of Christmas lasts for twelve days until Epiphany. At Epiphany, we recognize the arrival of the Magi, or wise men.
The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. John 1:5
Throughout the season of Christmas, we celebrate that God is with us. In this parament, the star of Bethlehem from Advent expands, sending the light of Christ to all the edges of the earth. Hints of blues and purples from Advent create contrast amidst the traditional Christmas colors of white and gold.
LENT
We prepare during these forty days of reflection, anticipating Easter’s hope.
I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? Isaiah 43:19
During the forty days of Lent, we confront our own brokenness, commit to spiritual disciplines, and journey with Christ to his death. In this parament, branches curve into a crown of thorns, hinting at the tree of life and foreshadowing both the cross and the resurrection. The crown and the swirling back-ground symbolize the word repent, which literally means “to turn.”’ The restrained color palette and bare branches in the crown point to the solemnness of this season.
EASTER
We celebrate the joy of resurrection and new creation! Easter is the culmination of the entire Church Year.
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Corinthians 5:17
The fifty days of Easter (or Eastertide) mark the fullness of our faith. In light of the resurrection, we are to live as Easter people, grounding our lives in the hope that God is making all things new. In this parament, a burst of color and light emerges from the cross and breaks beyond it, transforming an image of death into new life. This palette incorporates all of the colors used in each parament, representing how the whole church year builds up to Easter.
PENTECOST
We remember the winds of the Spirit and the birth of the Church. We focus on the gift of community and the calling of the body of Christ.
And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a mighty wind… Acts 2:2
At Pentecost, the birthday of the Church, we recognize the gift of the wild and mysterious Holy Spirit. The Spirit disrupts, unites, mystifies and strengthens us; the Spirit cannot be tamed. In this parament, a swoop of holy wind and fire moves through the sky, form-ing a loose image of a dove. Cool tones (representing the howling wind) intermingle with red flames and wisps of white.
TIME AFTER PENTECOST/EPIPHANY
On the Sundays after Pentecost and Epiphany, we reflect on the impact of the Light of the World on the Church and on the growth and calling of the body of Christ.
They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper. Psalm 1:3
Throughout these seasons, which make up more than half of the liturgical calendar, we pay attention to the work of God in any situation, and in everyday, common experience. In this parament, a tree in full bloom represents growth, spiritual maturation, and the beauty of God in the flourishing and fullness of life.
About the Artist
Reverend Lisle Gwynn Garrity is an artist, ordained Presbyterian (USA) pastor, retreat leader, and creative entrepreneur. As founder of A Sanctified Art LLC, a collaborative arts collective creating multimedia resources for churches, Lisle and her team resource worshiping congregations all across the globe. In addition to her work with A Sanctified Art, Lisle travels frequently to serve churches as a retreat leader and artist-in-residence. She believes in the prophetic and freeing power of art to connect us more deeply to God and one another. She lives in Black Mountain, North Carolina, with her husband and their dogs, Max and Maven.