For Easter 2008, the Liturgical Arts Team designed processional banners to be brought in during the fanfare of the hymn “Christ the Lord is Risen Today”. These banners were designed to lift up the joy and the mystery of the transformative occurrence of the Resurrection. The banners are made of painted silk; this fabric was selected because its light weight lends itself to a floating, billowing effect, reinforcing our feelings of joy and perhaps evoking the idea of Christ’s rising up from death. The colors and brushstrokes applied to the fabric suggest the dawning of a new day as well as the beginning of a new understanding of God’s love for us.
During the procession, the banners were carried as four separate pieces, but as the acolytes converged, it became apparent that the parts create a greater whole. The four banners were held so that the spaces in between the cloth formed a cross. This surprise symbolism might signify the reaction of the earliest disciples (despite Jesus’ own predictions, none of his followers seem to have expected the Resurrection). The fact that a symbol gradually emerges as the banners are held together might represent the apostles’ dawning comprehension (due to his transformed appearance, they all fail to immediately recognize Jesus.) The transience of the completed image might represent the challenges that God’s people continue to face as we struggle to understand the Resurrection and what it means for each of us. An invitation was extended by way of this visual art for each member of the congregation to contemplate the banners in light of the gospel story, and to discover meaning on their own.
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