Church Decor Ministry Fosters A Prayer Worship Environment Throughout The Liturgical Year

Participation in the Catholic Mass engages all five of our senses. So, you might say that our sense of sight during the Mass is enhanced by Delores Yosten, Barbara Binfield, and a group that helps keep our parish decorated for the liturgical seasons.

The decor of Advent, Christmas, Easter, and every Sunday and Holy Day in between helps Blessed Sacrament offer a feeling of home when one enters.

Delores and Barbara do a bit of decorating most weeks through the year. Green is used for Ordinary Time, and there are special decorations for feast days — like roses for the Feast of St. Valentine.

Barb Klein bowed out of this ministry in 2018. She has been so impressed with the work of Barbara and Delores since they took over.

“They have such neat ideas,” Barb says. “It always looks so beautiful at Blessed Sacrament.”

Delores says that keeping the church looking nice helps keep her and Barbara busy and “on our toes.” There is always a holiday or feast day to be preparing for. Although it might not be obvious, they use mostly artificial flowers to save on cost.

“We just try to always make the church look nice and not spend a lot,” Delores says.

Delores is involved with this ministry because she enjoys decorating, even at home, and it’s a way for her to give back to God and the parish.

“When the church is decorated, it helps put you in a prayer attitude,” she says.

Although the decorating for each season always follows a similar design, Barbara and Delores like to make subtle changes each year. In particular, they both look forward to the beauty of Easter. “We always use lots of lilies, tulips, daffodils, and more,” Delores says. “We want to make it look ‘springy.’”

This year, Easter will be even more of a celebration, since there were no in-person services last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Barbara and Delores still decorated the area that could be seen in the Mass recordings. They know this helped people feel like they were at Blessed Sacrament, even though they had been away for some time.

“We always get a lot of nice comments about the decorating,” Delores says.

If decorating is something you enjoy, please contact Barbara Binfield at (308) 379-1671 or binfmach@kdsi.net.

Church decorators give of their time and talents to make Blessed Sacrament look special for Easter.