Holidays Ahead!

We are soon to leave the time after Easter--are you ready for Pentecost?

At our non-traditional service, I volunteered to lead the two services, the week before Pentecost, and Pentecost.  For our art project, we'll be making wind chimes.  I want the chiming bits to have relevance to our spiritual lives; I'm thinking nails, shells, hinges, and any other symbols that I can think of that would make a lovely sound.  I have cloth in Pentecost colors that I'll cut into strips.  More on this project in the coming weeks.

But before we get to Pentecost, we have the feast of the Ascension on Thursday.  It's a festival that's almost completely overlooked in my modern Lutheran church.  I loved it as a child. 

And then on May 31, we do a bit of time travel:  it's the feast day that celebrates Mary's visit to Elizabeth when both are pregnant.

I also have a blog post about John the Baptist due to Living Lutheran.  I wrote about him last year, so I need something new to say--stay tuned!

If you haven't yet started thinking about how to make Pentecost special, it's not too late.  Streamer sticks are easy and folks of all ages can be provided to march around the sanctuary waving them as the congregation sings a Pentecost hymn; see this blog post for more details.  And if that's too much, then consider simple pots of red plants, which should be cheap and provides a festive air to a sanctuary.

If you need a Pentecost art project for a group, here's another simple idea that I created last year.  It helped fuel a conversation about spiritual gifts.

And if you want additional creative ideas, this blog post has them.  Some are somewhat complicated, like making mosaics on glass blocks.  But gluing scraps of tissue paper on banners is easy and fun and leads to a cool effect--plus it doesn't require talent or skill or special tools.

Happy planning!