As another year has come to an end, I am looking forward to the new year before us in regards to our liturgical floral designs. I wish to thank all who have sponsored flowers to grace our sanctuary table each Sunday. I have to thank you for giving me the freedom to use my talent and creativity in creating displays for our table and sanctuary. This is a floral designers dream.

As always Lent and Easter is a special event for floral designs in our church and last year was a delightful challenge with modified themes taken from The Four Immeasurables. The themes leading up to Palm Sunday were Forgiveness in the Midst of Suffering, Loving Kindness Radiating in all Directions, Cords of Compassion, Joy! Joy! Joy! and the 5th Sunday before Palm Sunday was Equanimity. Each week had a different sculptural compositions with the same base that continued to Palm Sunday and Easter.

Looking ahead to this year, our Lenten display will be returning to a design concept that I have not done since 1998, a Lenten Garden. This year’s garden will be a contemporary, progressive meditation garden with new elements being added each week of Lent. The end result will be a garden in full bloom on Easter morning.

Our Christmas display focused on the simplicity of four elements; evergreens, red ribbon, three types of cones and red berries. There were over one thousand cones used in our Christmas display. Thank you to all who helped un-decorate the previous decorations and wired cones for our display. And thank you to all who helped take down the decorations and put them away for another year.

In closing, it has been my pleasure serving you as the Minister of Liturgical Floral Design for the Waterbury Congregational Church, United Church of Christ and I look forward to another exciting year in the art of Liturgical Floral Design.

Respectfully submitted,
Ned Davis, Minister of Liturgical Floral Design