Ribbon worship banner
This was an easy project that turned out beautifully and was much appreciated in our church’s sanctuary. We made this one for Pentecost, but it would work well with any theme (rainbow!) or liturgical color. Our ribbon banner was designed to add movement to a red banner we already had in the sanctuary, and I came up with the idea because of the connection between Spirit and wind in scripture. Like the wind, the Spirit is never static (amen!), and the movement of the ribbons is a subtle reminder of that. Though it’s a great theological connection between the media and the liturgical season, we aren’t really able to use it much because it’s so red. But the spirit is at work in our communities all the time, so the theology would really work for any time of year. The banner also looks nice hanging in front of a window.
The main expense for this project is ribbon, which I bought on sale at a craft store. You need long sections of it, so you may be able to scrounge from crafters that you know. I liked the way that the variations in color, texture, width, and pattern turned out for our banner, but you can choose your ribbon based on the aesthetic you’re looking for. You’ll also need a dowl, curtain rod, or similarly shaped rod on which to hang the ribbons, and small safety pins, since it’s not possible to knot all types of ribbon very elegantly. If you don’t have a plain backdrop, you might also need to buy a coordinating felt background at a fabric store, but felt is usually pretty affordable.
Decide in advance how long you want your banner to be by measuring the area where you’ll be using it. Add an inch or two to account for securing the ribbons to the rod and then precut sections of ribbon for your youth. I did this project as part of a prayer station activity, but if it had been a stand alone activity, I would have had the youth measure and cut their own ribbons! Again, I did varying lengths, which made it easier to use up spools of ribbon and went with the look I was going for.
Ask the kids to choose ribbons and use a pencil to write a word they associate with the occasion for your banner on the bottom section of the ribbon. We had a great discussion about Pentecost while doing this activity, and about ways the Holy Spirit works in the world and how we have experienced it, or imagine what it would be like to experience it. You can’t really see the words unless you inspect the ribbons, but like a prayer shawl, these hopes and visions for the church infuse the banner with meaning. And the kids will hopefully associate their word(s) with the season moving forward. Also, they are nice surprises if and when folks decide to inspect the banner up close!
