Dean R. Heetderks

A few weeks ago, a product-engineer friend of mine and I were talking about church banners. He designs office furniture, so he is aware of the multitude of materials that are available to designers. Why, he wondered, do we often restrict our worship visuals to felt hangings, which we iron as perfectly flat as we possibly can? Why is this medium so universally accepted and why is, say, a wooden or metal sculpture less so?

In the front of the church where I worship, we have always had a beautifully proportioned cross that is mounted against a light-colored wall. This wall is lit from both sides, and where the light mixes in the middle, there is the most interesting vertical stripe of light. Because of its prominence and the lighting, I wanted to do something with the cross--something different than our usual crown of thorns and purple cloth, perfectly draped for Easter. Something for Advent.

Weddings are a lot of work! One aspect of my own wedding that was the biggest shock to me—and probably to anyone who has helped plan a wedding—is how much time and energy are focused on an occasion that is over after a few short hours. All that effort sometimes feels like a waste of time and talent! So what follows is a banner design that—though constructed specifically for a wedding—can be used throughout the year to illustrate the theme of Christ-centered relationships.

In "Signal the Sacraments: Lord's Supper Banner," we showed you a design for a banner that could be hung for the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. In this issue, we've included a design for use on Sundays when the sacrament of baptism is celebrated. Compared to the communion banner, baptism should have been easy, right? Doves, rainbows, babies, drops of water—symbols abound. As it turned out, of the two, this was the more difficult to design.

For some time I've wanted to design two banners for the sacraments of communion and baptism. My initial motivation was to provide worshippers-particularly children-with a visual cue that this day was a special day. When our sanctuary was renovated recently, the need became even more urgent. The front platform was greatly enlarged to make more room for choirs and praise teams, and a large prominent cross was replaced with a smaller one to accommodate a video projection screen. This new wide-open space begged for something, anything on which to focus one's eye. At 5 x 12', it is hard for anyone to miss these brightly-colored hangings. Here is the banner for the Lord's Supper; see this article for the one designed for the celebration of baptism.Split PersonalityIn this banner's design, I wanted to convey both the anguish of Christ's crucifixion and the hope of his resurrection. One of my early designs included a crown of thorns against a dark background and a bright sun shining across a light background. In front of both was silhouette of a hill and three crosses. Two of the three crosses were on the light side of the banner and the third was on the dark side, representing the unrepentant thief. Overall, it was much too complex and included an excess of symbolism (something that I often find a problem with designs for worship). So I simplified and simplified again. What you see at left is the result.ColorWhen I presented the design to our worship planning committee, the dark side was really dark-blood red, black, and charcoal gray. From the committee's reaction, I knew that this would have to change. It was too dismal for their taste. Instead, I kept the crown of thorns black, but changed the gray to purple. Even with the purple background, the mood of the left side is yet somber and contrasts nicely with the brightness of the right side.ConstructionThe banner is made out of felt fused together with iron-on fabric adhesive (Wonder-Under brand).

After the grand visual displays of Advent and Christmas, it is often tough to get anyone excited about creating visuals for the start of a new year. Here is one that is not too difficult to make. With all of the hoopla surrounding the turn of the new century, this visual serves as a reminder that everything—including time—is held in our God's protecting hand. Brief notes on the banner's construction and a downloadable pattern can be found below.  

Too often the wedding production seems to get cluttered with a parade of professional people--musicians, florists, photographers, coordinators—all doing a "perfect" job in a mechanical way. Perhaps that's why it's always rather pleasant to discover exceptions to the rule--to leam, for example, that so-and-so's mother made all of the bridesmaids' dresses or that the brothers of the groom wrote and sang that very touching, yet slightly off-key song for the service or that a favorite niece made 487 of those hand-decorated cupcakes.

The dramatic description of the wind and tongues of fire found in Acts 2 was the inspiration for this Pentecost banner, designed by Norman Mathias for Covenant Christian Reformed Church of Sioux Center, Iowa. The banner was submitted by Joanne Alberda.

This baptism banner was designed by Ardy Klassen of Eastern Avenue Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and was constructed with the help of some of her fellow church members — Barb Veeneman, Connie Van Dyke, and Jane Buma Haverkamp.

Banners. Different people have different opinions about this form of liturgical art. Some folks don't like the idea of anyone being allowed to hang "just anything" in front of the sanctuary. Others are grateful that someone took the time to change an otherwise drab setting. Some people wish the banner-maker would stick to counted-cross-stitch. Others would have liked the pink a little more mauve to go with the cushions of the chairs up front.