Our Paraments, Banner, and Flags

OUR PARAMENTS

Christ Lutheran Church uses different colors of Altar Cloths known as Paraments depending on the Season of the Church Year.

OUR WHITE PARAMENTS FOR CHRISTMAS AND EASTER
PURPLE PARAMENTS for LENT and HOLY WEEK
RED PARAMENTS for PENTECOST AND REFORMATION

Book of Acts, Chapter 2, Verses 1-4: “When the Day of Pentecost came, all of the believers were gathered together in one place. Suddenly there was a noise from the sky, which sounded like a strong wind blowing…Then suddenly they saw what looked like tongues of fire which spread out and touched each person there…….They were all filled with the Holy Spirit”.      

True of Jesus’ promise as recorded in John 16:7, the Helper had come to be with us throughout all eternity. Pentecost, a word derived from the Koine’ Greek language, literally means “Fifty Days”, so Pentecost Sunday is celebrated on the 50th day after Easter. It is sometimes called Whit Sunday, from the Jewish tradition of celebrating the Festival of the First Fruits fifty days after Passover, which occured the same weekend as the first Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

We use RED paraments on our altar and RED banners to proclaim the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday and again on Reformation Sunday at the end of October. We also wear red garments to church on those Sundays. RED is a symbol for Fire and for Blood. The descending Dove and Flames represent the Holy Spirit. The RED paraments are used on Pentecost, Martyrs Feast Days, and on Reformaton, and also for church conventions, ordinations and a few other celebrations.

GREEN PARAMENTS for EPIPHANY and SUNDAYS AFTER PENTECOST

We use Green Pariments for Epiphany Season between Christmas and Lent. Epiphany is a time we celebrate Jesus Christ’s manifestation of himself to his followers and to the world. We also use Green Paraments for Sundays After Pentecost season, at which time we study the teachings of Jesus Christ. There are a over twenty Sundays after Pentecost and the Gospels tell about the Parables and Miracles of Christ during His earthly ministry. The Paraments above are our historic paraments and the ones below we use today. Green is the color of growth and we us them as we learn about Christ’s teachings during the long season of Sundays After Pentecost.

OUR BLUE PARAMENTS FOR THE SEASON OF ADVENT

Blue Paraments are used during the first season of the church year, known as Advent because we celebrate the Coming of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Jews waited thousands of years for Jesus, and we wait for His coming at our death or at the end of the world.