Greening of St. Philip’s

The Greening of the Church at St. Philip’s takes place on December 22. At this well-loved event, parishioners gather to decorate the Church for Christmas. The Greening has been organized by different groups over the years. With so much changing this year, somehow greening responsibilities were handed to the Parish Administrator, a challenge since I had never seen the Church decorated for Christmas.

I asked the groups I work with most closely for help: the Garden Guild, the Phixers, and the Buildings and Grounds Committee. They assured me that I would not be doing this alone. I have to say a special thanks to Pam Henderson and Ann Volz, both of whom have seen the church decorated before and became the driving force in our preparation.

We were joined in our greening efforts and luminaria preparation by the aforementioned groups, the Altar Guild, the Youth, Vestry and Choir members, and parishioners who knew what a festive evening this would be. It was a special challenge this year because we needed to be completely finished in the Church in time for an orchestra rehearsal.

The Tucson Flute Club provided seasonal melodies in the Murphey Gallery, and the Parish Life Ministry served a delicious chili dinner. In just a matter of hours, the Church was transformed with chile ristras, evergreen boughs, poinsettias, and lots of red bows.

Thank you to everyone who participated and helped to create such a holiday atmosphere; there was a tremendous sense of anticipation and community. It all came together beautifully, and it couldn’t have happened without you!

—Lois Britton, Parish Administrator
—Photos by Roger Rainbolt and Canon Frank Clark