We know how much you value your church heirlooms — the warm glow of brass and silver heightens your experience of the liturgy’s holy mystery. In addition to making church metalware, CM Almy also repairs and refurbishes articles to its proper splendor […]
Special seasonal interest on the altar helps to unite the time of year with the many church celebrations of the Episcopal church year […]
Designing flower arrangements for our altars is a very special call. But when communion is being served, the celebrant and others need room to bless and administer the sacrament without interference from the arrangements around it […]
A school friend of mine once jokingly remarked that it was not until he was a teenager that he learned that all girls were not named either Mary Martha or Martha Mary! Both of these women have places in our liturgical calendar and are honored by the church […]
NAGA Service Ministries makes and sends stoles to our chaplains in the Armed Forces. Chaplain David Duprey, who received a set while in Afghanistan, wrote “We are isolated out here, not only from the larger body of believers in Christ, but also from our own mother church. Those stoles were a tether for me […]”
The DAG Sewing Room in California began some sixty years ago and was a major source of church furnishings. The sewing room continues today, offering a helping hand to parishes in need of linens, or just design assistance […]
When we think about hospitality and welcome in churches, we most often think of greeters, ushers and newcomers committees. But the fact is that the first work of hospitality comes in the ministry of the altar guild — long before anyone walks into the church for the celebration of the liturgy […]
Do you have an ordination coming up and want to make a present? What could be better than a stole? It doesn’t matter if you cross-stitch, needlepoint, embroidery, weave or paint, or quilt […]
As summer ends, it is a good time to collect dry material in the fields for use as fillers during the fall and winter. This is also a good time to recruit new members […]
Weddings can be the most exciting and frustrating times in the lives of couples about to be married. They can also be the most exciting and frustrating times in the lives of altar guilds, particularly if the parish doesn’t have a “wedding customary” […]
A church wedding is not primarily a social occasion but a service of congregational worship. The center of the service is God, not the couple, and the music selected for the occasion needs to reflect the majesty of God […]
“…they shall use gold, blue, purple and crimson yarns and fine linen.” (Exodus 28:5) Finely woven white linen and vividly colored textiles, have been part of our worship tradition for a very long time […]
Because the Easter Vigil begins in darkness, one of the most powerful symbols is the lighting of a new fire […]
This pattern takes a bit of practice, but looks like the ones we used to get when we were young […]
For those who design floral arrangements for your church and wish to grow your own materials, consider these factors when establishing cutting gardens […]
Epiphany is so soon after Christmas that often your plants are still usable. Epiphany asks for white and gold, a nice change after the reds of Christmas, but any color goes since the liturgical one is green. It’s a good season to train new, and veteran, members […]
For me the most joyous years are those when Advent I is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. At Washington National Cathedral, after turkey dinners and turkey soup, we dismantle all of the golds and oranges and reds, replacing them with […]
The name candle comes from the Latin candere meaning “to shine.” While no date can be definitely pinned down for the development of the first candle, accounts of their use date back to ancient times with Biblical references as early as the 10th century BC […]
A Book of Remembrance is a meaningful way to remember a parish or diocesan loved one who has passed on and, at the same time, do some altar guild outreach […]
Vestments and altar hangings are more than a colorful, occasionally changing backdrop to worship. They are congregational treasurers that enhance the liturgy and every congregation has the talent to save and preserve them […]
Summer ends and the majority of the flowers fade. Now is the time to collect seedpods, grasses with plumes and leaves […]
Would you like to stitch kneelers for your church? There is no joy to compare with putting our own work down in the church, to be there long after we are gone […]
I was asked to design a more modern and up-to-date stole for our chaplains, and I believe it is our calling to support the men and women putting their lives on the line for us. I would like to compile a list of sewers […]
Often I hear the altar guild being compared to Mary and Martha but most of the women that I have met have a John the Baptist streak […]
Palm Sunday is over, but what is to be done with those leftover consecrated palms? […]
Holy week requires a diversity of arrangements in just one week […]