Pentecost Installation
 
Trinity Episcopal Church
Bloomington, Indiana
 
By Susan Kinzer

The seeds for the Pentecost installation at Trinity Episcopal Church were found on ECVA Web site in the archived discussion of Pentecost projects. We have a very small, very dark church building and as a congregation we do not have much of a history of doing seasonal liturgical art projects. However, this spring the Worship Commission hosted an Adult Education Forum on Liturgical Art and its place in the church with a Power Point presentation of images from ECVA and other sources. At that forum the adults were asked to fold a number of origami doves for a special Pentecost project. Later, the church school children were also invited to fold doves. Many people also folded doves at home and brought them back for the mobile.

I facilitated the project and designed the frame for the mobile. Spencer Anspach, Nancy Rayfield, and myself were involved in the assembly of the mobile, and about 80 parishioners participated in creating the doves. Special mention should be made for the Butler family who folded approximately 80 doves. There are approximately 400 paper doves in all.

The doves were made out of standard copy paper cut 8.5” x 8.5” square and folded according a design found on the internet at:
http://www.jamboree.freedom-in-education.co.uk/w's%20craft%20corner/paper%20dove.htm

We did not use the traditional crane pattern, finding it a bit too complex to be taught in a large group and not all that dove-like in appearance. About 85% of the doves were white, complimented by 5% each of red, orange, and yellow doves. The doves were then strung on clear “low memory” fishing line and hung from a frame that was made out of a plastic hoola-hoop and wooden dowel rods. The frame was spray-painted red, orange and yellow to look like the sun. The whole mobile was hung from the hook and pulley assembly, which usually holds the advent wreath. In a moment of serendipity, it just happened that the spotlights that usually illuminate portions of the altar and the chancel shone directly through the mobile creating a warm glowing effect that was entirely unanticipated.

This project and an earlier project done for the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday have spawned an interest among parishioners in creating a Liturgical Arts Committee and doing future projects.

Susan Kinzer
smkinzer@bluemarble.net