FLOWER ARRANGING TEAM


Flowers have been placed in churches for hundreds of years to glorify God and assist us in worshipping Him.  We remember that Jesus referred to lilies in His ministry:


‘Consider how the lilies of the field grow.  They toil not neither do they spin and yet I tell you Solomon in all his splendour was not attired like one of these’  Matt 6v28.  

Seasonal flowers are displayed throughout the year, with particular attention being given to preparing flowers for important festivals, such as these for a recent Easter display.

Special Displays

Photos on this page include many from the disaplay for Easter 2023.


We would welcome any members of the congregation, who are free to participate in various things we do, to come and meet us and consider joining on a regular or occasional basis. We arrange flowers on a Friday and, occasionally, a Thursday afternoon.

Now that many weddings are taking place in other venues, we have lost a most important source of income for purchasing flowers. We hope that the congregation will be prepared to help us with small donations throughout the year.

Any contributions, however modest, would be welcome. If desired, these can be in memory of someone or to celebrate a special event and can be mentioned in the pew sheet if wished.

Lynn Taylor lynn.taylor47@ntlworld.com

About the Flower Team at St. Giles

Flowers are arranged in St. Giles by several teams of volunteers who work in rotation.  Each team arrange their flowers, usually on  Friday afternoons, once a month  More help is always welcome, from the complete beginner to the more experienced. 

None of the ladies currently on the rota have any formal training but they consider it to be very enjoyable, a great way to make friends and as a service to God and the church.

The photos on this page were taken during preparation for Easter.  All displays were created entirely by the members of the St. Giles team. 


At the major festivals of Christmas, Mothering Sunday, Easter and Harvest all the teams work together to fill the church with beautiful colours and aromas.  

There are no flowers in church during the reflective time of Lent and only greenery during Advent.


Flowers can be provided for Weddings and Funerals.  Anyone interested in these services should contact the Parish Office and one of our team members will call you back to discuss your requirements.  

Many people find that having a floral tribute placed in church is a fitting way to commemorate a loved one perhaps on their birthday or the anniversary of their death.  Others may wish to remember a special wedding anniversary. 

Donations for flowers in church are always most welcome. 


CONTACTS


St. Giles Flower Arrangers
Go Greener!

The St. Giles Flower Arrangers are always delighted to hear the appreciative comments about the flowers decorating our beautiful church. Preparing for a festival like Easter takes hours of thoughtful preparation and work…..but it is a joy and a pleasure to create. We always try to be as economical as we can and recycle the materials, flowers and greenery whenever possible. In our environmentally conscious world, the overuse of plastic has become a major concern so I am writing this article to enlist your help!



We no longer use polystyrene cups at St. Giles as Carol Fryer has switched to ordering more environmentally friendly paper ones. Teams 2 and 3 have substituted china mugs for when we have our cups of tea. The Oasis foam that we use to anchor the stems in our arrangements is a plastic foam containing formaldehyde, phenols and other potentially hazardous substances which can be irritating to the skin, eyes and respiratory system. It is not biodegradable. A newly developed Bio-Foam is now available. It is more expensive than the original Oasis and can biodegrade approximately 50% in a year. If we start to use it we will also have to consider alternative ways of displaying flowers in order to keep our costs down.

In March my team had a lot of messy fun planting up growing primroses, daffodils, snowdrops and other spring flowers to put on the church windowsills. The cost was less than half of the weekly amount that we usually spend on flowers and they were later given away to be planted in the garden to bring pleasure for years to come.

Putting flowers in water is the simplest way to avoid using Oasis. I did this with the paper cups of flowers tied on the banisters this Easter but tall vases on the window ledges in the nave could fall over and cause an accident. In pre-oasis days, crumpled chicken wire in containers was used to hold flower stems in place. The best containers for this would be heavy pottery or china deep bowls which would not topple over when filled with flowers and greenery.
 
if you can help with this or have ‘green’ suggestions please contact:

Fiona Milton on 01689 861282