| The festival over the weekend of the 10/11
July was a great success attracting many visitors despite
the weathers efforts! The school hosted a lovely art exhibition,
a display of some of the villages archive material, a giant
mosaic making session and splendid refreshments. In the
church a beautiful themed flower display was staged, described
below in detail. |
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Welcome to the flower festival
St. Mark's is a small and very rural church so we have chosen
to use wild and garden flowers where possible. The theme of
our Flower Festival, "Revealing His Glory" is taken
from the writings of St. John, in his Gospel and in the Book
of Revelation, where we learn how God has made Himself known
to us. John has revealed the Heavenly Father to us through
Jesus' words and ministry. We trust that these notes will
assist you to understand the inner meaning of the Scriptures,
which we have attempted to portray.
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Feeding the 5000. John 6 v 1-15
Jesus shared the modest meal of loaves and fishes with
the huge crowd, which had gathered to hear Him preach.
We are part of that crowd. We are reminded that God meets
our real needs. The crowd, represented by the ring of
flowers, could be compared to those at a modern day pop
concert. Look for the family groups, the clusters of friends,
couples, loners, the sick and the weary.
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I am the Light of the World. John
8 v 12
Light is an intangible force without which we cannot live.
Broken down through a prism, it gives us the colours of
the rainbow shown here, with white, the lightest and brightest
colour available in flowers, representing the Light of the
World. God calls us to move from the shadows, so that we
may live in this glorious light.
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Before Abraham was "I am!'.
John 8 v 58
Abraham, father of the Nations, is depicted by the mature,
weathered wood. The dried flower heads represent past generations,
fresh flowers, the present one and seed heads, those still
to come. Whilst we may change, God never changes. He is
the same yesterday, today and forever.
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Jesus heals the man born blind. John
9 v 1-41
The beautiful arrangement is masked in part by a veil, like
a cataract. We, who can see want to remove the veil to see
the whole. Similarly, the blind man wishes to see clearly,
so puts his trust in Jesus' healing powers.
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Jesus heals the nobleman's son. John
4 v 43-54
On many occasions during His ministry, Jesus was called
upon to heal the sick. We have chosen to portray this by
the use of healing and beneficial plants from our gardens,
among them, foxglove, yew, eucalyptus, sage and fennel.
John points to a greater healing when he refers to The Tree
of Life, whose leaves were for the healing of the Nations.
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Jesus walks on water. John 6 v 16-21
Jesus approaches the fishermen's boat, which is being tossed
on the blue-green Sea of Galilee. He comes to us in our
everyday lives, but occasionally, He comes in an extraordinary
manner.
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I am the true vine. John 15 v 1
I am the Bread of Life. John 6 v 35
Where water and raw food can easily become tainted, the
purest, basic ingredients for life are cooked bread and
fermented wine. Thus, Christ should be the staple ingredient
of our spiritual lives. The bread and the wine point us
to the Holy Communion, when we remember the cost, the broken
body and the shed blood of the Crucifixion.
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I am Alpha and Omega. Rev. 1 v 8
John tells of his vision of the risen Lord and in symbolic
language, describes the power and authority of Jesus. This,
he relays to the known Church of the time, represented here
by the seven candlesticks.
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Jesus raises Lazarus. John 11 v 1-44
I am the Resurrection and the Life. John 11 v 25
In this
arrangement of three layers of colour, black represents
death, blue, the days in the tomb and white, the hope of
resurrection.
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I am the way, the truth and the
life. John 14 v 6
I am the Gate. John 10 v 7
Jesus was a country boy. He
understood the importance of using safe paths and defined
gateways. Thus, He describes himself so that, through
Him, we may find a sure way in this life and also, the
way to the Gate of Heaven.
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Jesus changes water into wine. John
2 v 1-11
Jesus' first miracle was performed at the wedding in Cana,
where He changed water into wine. Here, the water is depicted
in white and sparkling flowers and the wine in purple and
magenta. Jesus stepped in to provide the means for people
to celebrate. Likewise, God enables us to celebrate the
good things in life.
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I am the Good Shepherd. John10 v
11
The shorn fleece is arranged with the shepherd's tools,
crook, shears and foot trimmer together with teasels, traditionally
used to tease the tangled fleece into orderly threads for
spinning. The shepherd guards his flock and cares for its
every need, as Jesus cares for us.
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PLEASE SUPPORT OUR EFFORTS WITH A GENEROUS
DONATION TO HELP FUND THE NEW SCHOOL HALL AND THE REFURBISHMENT
OF THE CHURCH.
THANK YOU.
The flowers were arranged by
Sheila Beetlestone, Kate Chessells, Joan Green,
Jill Kitchenham, Sheila Lawrence, Muriel Muddle.
Joan Padfield, Lesley Pett, Margaret Rhee,
Daphne Street and Bernice Troy
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