Dear RW:
Here's an idea I've wanted to share with other readers of RW for some time.
At Calvary Christian Reformed Church we've installed banner holders on our parking lot light poles. We coordinate the banners we hang there with the banners inside the church. The idea is to make a very visible connection between what happens inside the sanctuary and what is happening outside.
The concept is easy to implement. Most flag stores (now popular, and present in most malls) can order brackets for poles (our three brackets only totaled about $120). And we made our own flags. We use flag nylon material—fade-resistant, durable, and readily available in many colors from our local fabric store.
The results are fantastic. Banners in an otherwise drab parking lot add a festive, regal presence when entering the church.
Enclosed are some of the plans we worked from and some pictures of the banners that are hanging for the Trinity season. "We've discovered that three sets of banners work for the entire year: purple (Advent, Lent), green (Epiphany, Trinity), and multicolored', gold, fuchsia, and red (Eastertide). The only problem we have had so far is getting someone to climb up the 15-foot pole to change them during a Minnesota winter!
Randall D. Engle
Pastor, Calvary Christian Reformed Church
Bloomlngton, Minnesota