History of the Paraments Currently Used in Central Presbyterian Church
"A BIT OF HISTORY"
A number of people have requested information about the paraments, which are the coverings we use on the communion table, pulpit, and the stoles on the lectern. Often the choir and the pastor wear the same color stoles as the paraments.
Paraments have a long history in the Christian church and are used by many denominations including the Roman Catholic church, as well as the Presbyterian Church. These holy, and often ornamental cloths are one of the major symbols of the church as their color indicates to worshipers the Church Seasons, and also point us toward a particular member of the Trinity.
The color PURPLE indicates the session of penitence and preparation--Advent/Lent. WHITE focus on the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, such as Christmas and Easter. RED, the color associated with the Holy Spirit, is used on Pentecost and other times of celebration, such as ordinations, church anniversaries, even weddings. GREEN is a reminder of the totality of God as well as the need of our spiritual growth and is used during time periods not marked by special emphasis. These "green" periods are often called "Ordinary Time."
Central Presbyterian Church began using paraments in 1974. At that time the congregation was in the process of re-decorating the sanctuary. Our pastor, Dr. Ken Churchill, recommended that paraments would both enhance the beauty of the sanctuary and prepare us for worship each Sunday. Helen Derry, Alia Montgomery, and Ken reviewed a number of catalogues, but decided completed paraments were too expensive. However, they also learned sewing kits could be bought at a much reduced cost. After the two women discussed the matter with a number of the women of the church, a decision was made to purchase a kit in each color. Each kit included material for the communion table, pulpit, lectern and pastoral stoles. In addition the women and Ken chose symbols to be sewn on each piece. Most items have three pieces of different cloth--a backing material, a middle piece, and the decorative top.
Below is a list of Memorials used to purchase our parament kits and the names of the sewers if known. If you know other names, please let June or Rosella know. All the women were members of the Dorcas Women's Sewing Group.
GREEN — the memorials of Irene Cook, Lorene Ortman Gerdes, Kirby Rutlege. Len Dallman. Alia Montgomery and Rosella Rogers did a major amount of the work. An interesting fact is that though the green paraments are used the most often, they were made out of the lightest weight material.
PURPLE — the memorials of Mae (Mitchell) Beckman and Ruth (Mitchell) Seiling.
RED — the memorials of Ella Montgomery and James Wilkins. Helen Derry, who was Chairperson of the Parament Project, and June Gamage were the primary sewers of the red and white paraments.
WHITE — memorial of Captain Robert Lynn. In addition to the women mentioned above, Mary Sutton, and other women volunteered to sew on the fringe and symbols.
When each color was used for the first time, Dr. Churchill explained the meaning of the color and of the symbols sewn on each. One of the funnier lessons was on why the bird on the Red parament was flying upside down. We learned it was a Dove, an ancient symbol of the Holy Spirit which descended on Christ following His baptism, and was also given to the church at Pentecost.
—Information collected by Rosella Rogers, June Gamage, and Ken Churchill, July 2004
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Copyright ©2004 Central Presbyterian Church
