‘Tis the season, which means decorating has commenced at Kirk in the Hills! The process started with Marsha Rogers kicking off the dressing of the Chrismon tree in the Fireside Room with volunteers Glenda Herb, Ann Hartzell, Midge Barrow, Kathleen Wolfe and Terri Miller. As historian Bob Beck explained, the word “Chrismon” comes from the words “Christ” and “monogram,” which means the tree is decorated with the symbols of Christ — a tradition that was started in 1957 by American Lutherans.

Red and white poinsettias were delivered to be distributed throughout the Kirk House rooms. Sanctuary decorator, Kathy Henk, helped delegate the placement of the beautiful red poinsettias around the main sanctuary altar which began by unraveling each bundle from its wrapping.

As we moved throughout the church following the many decorating procedures, volunteer Glenda Herb explained to us about a special tree in the main lobby, the Angel Tree. The ornaments on the tree are paper tags with the age of a child in need and a wish list of presents where the congregation members can take a tag, fulfill the wish, then replace the tag with an angel ornament provided by the church. The tree was already filled with many angels when we visited, meaning presents were purchased for those children.

We ended the decorating sequence in the Refectory to see the decoration of the Advent by Candlelight event. One of the Elders, Nancy Lau explained that Advent by Candlelight is an annual event designed for women members and friends of the Kirk to celebrate Advent and the coming holiday season. As part of this event, women set up festive tables for the event and serve their guests coffee, tea, and dessert. We were able to catch one of the tables being set up by Sally Brown and her husband. This event has been taking place for the last 18 years and is greatly celebrated by Kirk women.

As part of this film, there will be a segment designated to the youth of faith. To discuss this, Elder Amy Davis was on hand to talk about the succession of crosses that are hung in the hallway in the Abbey of the Kirk. As youth complete the confirmation process, the Kirk takes each of the youth to downtown Detroit to Pewabic Pottery to express their faith individually by making a Pewabic tile for themselves and to be reflected in the church to show the expression of their faith and what their faith in Jesus Christ means to them. Further down the hall, there is another collection of crosses that were an outgrowth of what started as national mission trips, that then turned into international mission trips where you’ll see crosses from Pittsburgh, Puerto Rico, Belize, Toronto, and more.

Thank you to the Kirk and all the volunteers for allowing us to step into your festive holiday decorating tradition.