Chancel flowers

Chancel flowers (also known as altar flowers) are flowers that are placed in the chancel of a Christian church.[1] These chancel flowers are often paid for by members of a congregation as an offering of thanksgiving to God.[2] Chancel flowers are often placed upon or adjacent to the altar table, as well as near other church furniture in the chancel, such as the baptismal font, lectern and pulpit.[2]

Chancel flowers are sometimes dedicated to the memory of someone who has died by the purchasing family.[3] Certain species of flowers are used during the various liturgical seasons of the Christian kalendar, such as poinsettias during Christmastide (symbolic of the Star of Bethlehem) and Easter lilies during Eastertide (symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus).[4][5]

Many historic Christian denominations, such as the Methodist Churches, only permit live flowers upon the chancel:[6]

Since flowers symbolize the resurrection, and in keeping with the principle of integrity, no type of artificial flower or plant is appropriate to the environment of worship. If for a given service no fresh flowers are available, there are several alternatives. One is to use evergreens or mixed greenery. ... Anything that expresses falseness or pretence, or that is gaudy or cheaply ornate, should be avoided.

— United Methodist Altars: A Guide for the Local Church[6]

The Catholic Church likewise teaches that "the use of living flowers and plants, rather than artificial greens, serves as a reminder of the gift of life God has given to the human community."[7]

In other religions

Altar flowers are also used in other religious traditions.[8] In Japanese Buddhism, altar flowers are associated with ikebana (also known as kadō, "way of flowers" or art of flower arranging) and are part of traditional altar arrangements, called mitsu-gusoku (three-article arrangement) and go-gusoku (five-article arrangement).[9]

See also

References

  1. ^ Wilson, Adelaide B.; Wilson, Lois (1967). Flowers for Your Church. New York: M. Barrows. p. 26. OCLC 902153.
  2. ^ a b "Practical suggestions for chapel flower arrangements". Guidelines for Protestant Women of the Chapel. United States Department of Defense Armed Forces Chaplains Board. 1965. p. 17.
  3. ^ "Flowers for the Altar". Saint Timothy's Episcopal Church. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  4. ^ Caviness, Crystal. "The poinsettia: Jesus' life story in a plant". United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  5. ^ Collins, Cynthia (19 April 2014). "Easter Lily Tradition and History". Guardian Liberty Voice. Archived from the original on 31 January 2020. Retrieved 20 April 2020. The Easter Lily is symbolic of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Churches of all denominations, large and small, are filled with floral arrangements of these white flowers with their trumpet-like shape on Easter morning.
  6. ^ a b Hickman, Hoyt L. (1984). "Flowers". United Methodist Altars: A Guide for the Local Church. Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press. pp. 22, 61–63. ISBN 0687429854. OCLC 10185529. See also: "Are there guidelines for placing flowers in the sanctuary?". The United Methodist Church. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  7. ^ Doyle, Kenneth (21 September 2015). "Are artificial flowers allowed on the altar?". Crux. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  8. ^ Gardner, Margaret (March 2022). "Divine intimations: contemporary floral design for sacred spaces". Image (112). ISSN 1087-3503. Floral designs created for religious festivals and tomb-chapels are represented in art as far back as Egyptian wall paintings from 2500 BCE. Arranged flowers were used in temples in China as early as the third century BCE. Buddhists, Taoists, and followers of Confucius placed cut plant material at altars and used flowers in religious teaching, ritual, and medicine, as did Greco-Roman priests and the early Christian church.
  9. ^
    • Marcus, Margaret F. (December 1952). "Some oriental ways with flowers". The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. 11 (2): 160–170. JSTOR 426042. flower masters in Japan, who were usually Buddhist priests, not only composed traditional lotus blossoms for altar flowers, but created new forms as well for the temple.
    • Satō, Shōzō (1966). The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Complete Guide to Japanese Ikebana. New York: H. N. Abrams. pp. 17–19. OCLC 426201. simple floral arrangements were made as early as the sixth century, when Buddhism was introduced to Japan from Korea and China. It was the custom at Buddhist monasteries to place flowers before images of the Buddha, and over the centuries these floral offerings acquired a fairly elaborate form. ... A number of scroll paintings from the Heian and Kamakura periods (794–1185 and 1185–1333) show ... many floral offerings of the types known as mitsu-gusoku and go-gusoku ...
    • Stamm, Joan D. (2010). "Flower offerings". Heaven and Earth are Flowers: Reflections on Ikebana and Buddhism. Boston: Wisdom Publications. pp. 51–64. ISBN 0861715772. OCLC 430841163.
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