Environment Committee
The Environment Committee is responsible for decorating and keeping our worship area clean. Some tasks include changing the Altar cloths and banners to follow the Liturgical Calendar. We are responsible for cleaning the Daily Chapel and Sanctuary areas; many hands make light work. This is more than a committee, it is a ministry. Each month we meet on the second Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Daily Chapel. We take turns leading the group in prayer at the beginning of the meeting, then go over the upcoming schedule of weddings and begin general cleaning. We follow the Liturgical Calendar and it is our tradition at Good Shepherd that we only use real flowers and plants to decorate our worship space. At various times of the year (Holy Week, Advent, Christmas) we ask for help from those who cannot make an entire year-long commitment. During these times we need strong people who are able to lift plants. There are no special talents needed to join this committee. If you are interested in enhancing our worship area, please contact Doreen Bacile, at the main office 588-7689.
There are five seasons in the Church Liturgical year. Each season has a special color for adorning the Altar, wall banner, Lectionary cover and the Ambo frontal panel.
The seasons and the special colors for each of the seasons are:
Advent – dark blue-violet Christmas – white
Ordinary Time – green Lent – violet
Easter – white
For Advent, dark blue violet adornments are used. An Advent Wreath made of live evergreens and four large candles is placed to the right of the Altar. The season of Advent ends December 24th.
For Christmas, white is used for adornment of the worship area. An evergreen tree decorated with red freeze-dried roses is placed at the back wall behind the Altar. The Altars both upstairs and down and the Blessed Sacrament area are decorated with a profusion of red and white poinsettias. Large evergreen wreaths are hung on the walls of the Church and in the Narthex. The Committee welcomes volunteers to share with us in the fun of our Ministry as we work together and offer our services to prepare for the Celebration of Christmas. The Feast of our Lord’s Baptism ends the season.
Ordinary Time adornments are green. The season ends on Ash Wednesday.
Lenten color adornments are a somber shade of violet, different from that of Advent. All live plants and flowers are removed from the main worship area, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the Narthex. Vases filled with sand and sticks are placed in front of the Altar. Dead branches and rocks are placed there also.
For Palm Sunday, the worship area adornments are red. The worship area is decorated with large sprays of Palm. Before the Palm Sunday masses, Committee members have previously separated the palm into individual pieces for distribution to the congregation.
Holy Thursday is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and white is used for adornment. After Communion, the Holy Eucharist is transferred to the Daily Chapel where a floral garden has been prepared for the Repository and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Altar in the main worship area dark and bare. Very early Friday morning, the Committee breaks down the garden and moves all the flowers to the Library.
Good Friday the Altar remains bare and no Mass is celebrated. Communion may be distributed and after Services and the Veneration of the Cross, the Cross is placed on a red cloth on the Altar steps.
After Morning Prayer on Holy Saturday, the Committee begins to decorate for Easter. This is another time when many hands make light work and all are invited to share in this beautiful, rewarding experience. White is used for adornment for the Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday and all the Sundays of the Easter season. The Altars upstairs and down are decorated with masses of Easter Lilies, Azaleas, Tulips, Hyacinths, and various other flowers. The Paschal Candle is encircled with a ring of colorful springtime flowers.
On Pentecost Sunday, the Altar coverings are red. The worship area is decorated with red carnations and the Paschal Candle is also decorated with red flowers.
The Celebrations of Trinity Sunday and The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) are both adorned with white.
Ordinary Time resumes after the Celebrations of Trinity Sunday and The Body and Blood of Christ, and we return to green adornments.
The Environment Committee is responsible for decorating and keeping our worship area clean. Some tasks include changing the Altar cloths and banners to follow the Liturgical Calendar. We are responsible for cleaning the Daily Chapel and Sanctuary areas; many hands make light work. This is more than a committee, it is a ministry. Each month we meet on the second Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Daily Chapel. We take turns leading the group in prayer at the beginning of the meeting, then go over the upcoming schedule of weddings and begin general cleaning. We follow the Liturgical Calendar and it is our tradition at Good Shepherd that we only use real flowers and plants to decorate our worship space. At various times of the year (Holy Week, Advent, Christmas) we ask for help from those who cannot make an entire year-long commitment. During these times we need strong people who are able to lift plants. There are no special talents needed to join this committee. If you are interested in enhancing our worship area, please contact Doreen Bacile, at the main office 588-7689.
There are five seasons in the Church Liturgical year. Each season has a special color for adorning the Altar, wall banner, Lectionary cover and the Ambo frontal panel.
The seasons and the special colors for each of the seasons are:
Advent – dark blue-violet Christmas – white
Ordinary Time – green Lent – violet
Easter – white
For Advent, dark blue violet adornments are used. An Advent Wreath made of live evergreens and four large candles is placed to the right of the Altar. The season of Advent ends December 24th.
For Christmas, white is used for adornment of the worship area. An evergreen tree decorated with red freeze-dried roses is placed at the back wall behind the Altar. The Altars both upstairs and down and the Blessed Sacrament area are decorated with a profusion of red and white poinsettias. Large evergreen wreaths are hung on the walls of the Church and in the Narthex. The Committee welcomes volunteers to share with us in the fun of our Ministry as we work together and offer our services to prepare for the Celebration of Christmas. The Feast of our Lord’s Baptism ends the season.
Ordinary Time adornments are green. The season ends on Ash Wednesday.
Lenten color adornments are a somber shade of violet, different from that of Advent. All live plants and flowers are removed from the main worship area, the Blessed Sacrament Chapel and the Narthex. Vases filled with sand and sticks are placed in front of the Altar. Dead branches and rocks are placed there also.
For Palm Sunday, the worship area adornments are red. The worship area is decorated with large sprays of Palm. Before the Palm Sunday masses, Committee members have previously separated the palm into individual pieces for distribution to the congregation.
Holy Thursday is the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and white is used for adornment. After Communion, the Holy Eucharist is transferred to the Daily Chapel where a floral garden has been prepared for the Repository and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. The Altar in the main worship area dark and bare. Very early Friday morning, the Committee breaks down the garden and moves all the flowers to the Library.
Good Friday the Altar remains bare and no Mass is celebrated. Communion may be distributed and after Services and the Veneration of the Cross, the Cross is placed on a red cloth on the Altar steps.
After Morning Prayer on Holy Saturday, the Committee begins to decorate for Easter. This is another time when many hands make light work and all are invited to share in this beautiful, rewarding experience. White is used for adornment for the Easter Vigil, Easter Sunday and all the Sundays of the Easter season. The Altars upstairs and down are decorated with masses of Easter Lilies, Azaleas, Tulips, Hyacinths, and various other flowers. The Paschal Candle is encircled with a ring of colorful springtime flowers.
On Pentecost Sunday, the Altar coverings are red. The worship area is decorated with red carnations and the Paschal Candle is also decorated with red flowers.
The Celebrations of Trinity Sunday and The Body and Blood of Christ (Corpus Christi) are both adorned with white.
Ordinary Time resumes after the Celebrations of Trinity Sunday and The Body and Blood of Christ, and we return to green adornments.