Pentecost Banners

A series of six banners were commissioned by Pastor Richard White as a visual focal point for the worship season of Pentecost. The banners are both evidence of my involvement in the local church and performance exhibit extensions of my work as a theatre artist.

During the initial phase of idea generation, I concentrated on two traditional symbols of Pentecost: the dove and fire. While I didn't reject the symbolism of the dove, I decided to save it for a complimentary banner which will be built in the future to adorn the balcony of Gaither Chapel. We even have discussed the eventual installation of a series of banners for the building's exterior which will welcome worshippers as they approach.

The final design was executed using a computer-assisted drawing program frequently employed by theatrical set designers. It is in that capacity that I've become familiar with and dependent on TurboCAD software. Line drawings of the design were distributed as coloring pages in Sunday School classes as a way of including children in the meaning of the banners as worship aids.

The color of flame reflects its fuel and temperature. Blue flame, for example, (seen in panels to the extreme left and right) is the product of natural gas or alcohol. More readily-identified shades of orange, red, and gold are by-products of wood and paper combustion. Only white (historically representative of holiness) is out of place in the spectrum of flame. Yet white is in each of the Pentecost Banners, indicating the ominipresence of the supernatural God.

Texture and sheen is, perhaps, poorly revealed in these photos. Nevertheless, banjo cloth and velour were chosen and cut so their weaves pointed to the chapel's distinctive Celtic cross. The elements were assembled under my supervision in a one day "quilting bee." Shannon Thornburg was an invaluable project

collaborator. Many others (Barbara Boyd, Beth Brayboy, Glenda Brouwer, Cindy Brungart, Dana Caldwell, Melissa Duarte, Cathy Foster, Elizabeth Fuller, David and Judith Keyser, Meredith Kraak, Eunice Stackhouse, Susan Watson, Portia White, and Maggie Wynne) contributed in various capacities: providing equipment, caring for the children of seamstresses, cutting fabric, preparing food for the assembly team, and, of course, sewing.