Anything but Ordinary

Jennifer E., Katie V., and Judy D. working out the puzzle of collage.


In May of 2008, L'Art reconvened to begin working on another set of paraments. This project was a follow-up to the silk painting activity undertaken by the women of the church at their annual retreat earlier in the year. The idea was to take the images that each of the women painted and to assemble them, collage-style, into banners and a pulpit cloth, to be used during Ordinary Time.


The left banner. The right banner.


The following is the Artist Statement that appeared in the church bulletin on June 1, 2008:



First, what is Ordinary Time? This year, the period from late May through November is known as Ordinary Time. This time is called “ordinary” because it does not include one of the holidays or special church seasons such as Easter or Pentecost. Also, the term has the same root as “ordinal,” a mathematical term indicating numerical position. So, another way to think of Ordinary Time is as “counted time.” The liturgical color is green to show that during ordinary time we continue to grow spiritually.

In March the Presbyterian Women of APC went on retreat and asked the Liturgical Art team to lead them in an art project. Together we explored painting on silk with special attention to motifs relating to nature and growth. These motifs have been collaged into the Ordinary Time banners and pulpit cloth. If you look closely, you will see rocks, flowers, branches, birds, insects, leaves, the sun, even part of a strand of DNA.

What may not be apparent is the amazing, Spirit-guided process by which many varied images, each with its own unique style, color and size, were blended during the collage process to make a unified whole. There were times when the team wondered if we could integrate every painted image into one piece of art! But the collaborative process of several sets of discerning eyes—moving pieces around, painting new silk in just the right shade of green, and squinting to see if everything blended—all combined to ensure that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. May we find that as a congregation we grow and flourish in much the same way.

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The pulpit cloth is two-sided, to offer some variety during this longest season of the liturgical year.

This side of the cloth is used in the summer months.
This side of the cloth is used in the fall.