Church Decorating Ministry: Keeping Our Parish Looking Beautiful

The Catholic Mass experience includes the use of all five of our senses. And at St. Leo’s, the senses of sight and smell are enhanced by a group who work to make our church environment beautiful.

Mary Harb and Chris and Rhonda Riha are in charge of decorating our church. Mary takes care of the outdoor plants, while Chris and Rhonda decorate the church interior.

“It’s like if you spruce up outside your house,” Mary says. “You want the front door to be inviting and welcoming.”

Mary makes sure St. Leo’s has a big welcome sign on display, in the form of beautiful flowers, outside the doors. She also keeps them watered each day. Mary feels this is a great way for her to contribute at St. Leo’s, because she loves flower gardening, and makes for a simple way for her to give of her time and talent.

Chris and Rhonda got involved with the decoration of the church interior about 10 years ago, because it was something they could do together after their children had all left home. Previously, they taught religious education together.

“It is our way of tithing — sometimes we supply flowers and decorations out-of-pocket,” Rhonda says. “This ministry is about sharing ourselves and getting to know others. We enjoy it.”

The group does a lot of decorating for Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter and Ordinary Time. They also use seasonal decorations throughout the year. When it comes time to decorate for a holiday, they typically send an email to their volunteer list and advertise the decorating date in the church bulletin.

“The church decor helps remind us of the liturgical seasons,” Chris says. “When we see the decor has changed, we can prepare our hearts for a different season.”

“It’s like when you walk into your home and it’s clean and decorated,” Rhonda adds. “It’s just like when you bring out the beauty in your home. We try to do that for our church family in God’s house.”

Chris and Rhonda are thankful to have this opportunity to volunteer together and to model how beautiful it is to volunteer for the church with your spouse. They appreciate all the help from volunteers when it comes to decorating for the major holidays.

All are invited and welcome to help decorate, sew, lift or with any other skills they can bring to this effort. Chris and Rhonda are also willing to accept donations of decorations, decorative pots, live plants and silk flowers from weddings and other events.

Christmas at St. Leo’s

Christmas at St. Leo’s

Outdoor flowers at St. Leo’s