A calendar is like a circle.
That is why we members of the Worship Committee were at the church removing Christmas decorations and stowing them away for another year. It was just days before 2022 AD was to commence, and though the Church liturgical year starts at a slightly different spot on the calendar, it seemed appropriate to consider the Advent/Christmas season was ending and a new season beginning. It was time to move on around the circle. So we set to work.
I arrived a few minutes before the planned 10:30 a.m. start time. Of course, some early birds were already working, some decorations already loaded. Kathy was up on a ladder preparing to take down the various wreaths that festooned the walls of the sanctuary. I shed my coat and went to help her, and together we lifted the green circles from the wall and placed them on the floor.
When we moved the ladder to the chancel — the space in the sanctuary which contains the altar, pulpit and choir area — and evaluated the larger wreaths that had been placed on each of the two pillars framing the space. They were much higher up than either of us could safely reach with the ladder. Kathy wondered in a conspiratorial voice if it would be somehow disrespectful to use the flagpole in the corner, the one with the Christian Flag. The pole’s finial is a cross which seemed like it would be a useful device to hook the wreaths down. We decided God probably wouldn’t mind us using the flag in such a manner for church work. Still, I tried to do it quickly before anyone else came in.
In the meantime, other members of our church family had arrived and were busy pulling Christmas trees apart and deconstructing creches. It is clear the decorations and trimmings have been around for a while. The cardboard boxes in which we stored them are bowed and somewhat flexible with old pieces of now useless tape stuck to the closing flaps. I would guess it is common for churches to pack and unpack the same items over the years. It certainly is part of our tradition. Re-using and making do with what one has seems like a Christmas thing, somehow. The end of one thing; the beginning of another.
A few of us went outside to disassemble the wooden creche constructed years ago by Bill, a longtime church member. It was heavy and slightly awkward to carry inside, so it was good that we worked together. Now we had to find Ruthann to ask where we should store it.
Ruthann is the go-to person when it comes to where items are located in the church building, and how things should proceed when it comes to getting things out and putting them back. She is the one to ask when the different candles should be used and the correct color of altar cloths used during certain seasons of the year. Ruthann also is a long-time member. She is a valuable resource.
Our church building is not huge, and because we were so focused on the job at hand, we finished the work in a little over an hour. Everything packed up and stowed away for another year. We all worked together to do what needed to be done. I briefly wished that such a perspective and effort would become a reality in our world during the coming year.
Some of us joked that we should keep our productivity quiet or others will start asking us to take their decorations down next Christmastime, though I am sure any of us would help if asked. Still, there’s no sense in planning too far ahead. The circle will come around before we know it.
