Many churches hang a purple cloth on the cross to represent Jesus’ royalty as King of kings, and to remember the time when the soldiers mocked him and and put a purple robe on him during his trial. The purple cloth is traded with a black cloth which is hung on the cross for the final week, representing Jesus’ death. Then on Easter morning, they change it to white, to represent the cloth that wrapped his body, but was left in the grave when he rose from the dead Easter morning.
A crown of thorns can be added to the cross and cloth, or combined with flowers and a cloth for a separate decoration for the church.
Link to website that sells 2 sizes of crown of thorns:
This is also the best source of Easter products that I have found anywhere (Type in or “Easter” in the search box on their home page)
If you you are fortunate enough to have a thorn tree, you can make your own crown of thorns. Simply cut one or two branches, cut off the leaves, then bend into a ring and fasten with florist’s wire. (When my neighbor trimmed her Yuzu tree, I asked for the branches, and was able to make about 15!)
Churches need much bigger decorations than homes because they are so much bigger --the ceilings are taller, and the walls are bigger. Banners are a good way to quickly decorate a large area. They are not too difficult to make if you cut the design elements out of felt and glue them on rather than sew them.
Link to website that sells Easter banners
Many churches put up lots of decoration for Christmas, but far fewer churches decorate for Easter. This is hard to understand, since there is no reason for Christmas, if there is no Easter. If your church decorates a tree for Christmas, then consider making a garden for Easter. Yes, it is a little bit of extra work to make one, but it is worth it to help celebrate such an important holiday. This decoration is the best way to keep the resurrection front and centre. And it is a decoration that can also double as a teaching tool.
View ways to make an Easter garden
A crown of thorns can be combined with other items to make a number of different arrangements for Easter decorations around the church. Here it is combined with a large stone and a white cloth to represent the resurrection.
In this arrangement, the crown of thorns is combined with a scourge and cross to represent Jesus’ death, a woven cloth representing the temple curtain that was torn from top to bottom to symbolize being allowed to come into the presence of God without an arbitrator, and flowers to represent new life in Christ.
This time the crown of thorns is hung like a wreath, and decorated with a manger to represent Jesus’ birth, the crown of thorns represents his death, the white cloth represents his resurrection, and the brass horn represents his second coming.
Add candles to a crown of thorns and it becomes an Easter wreath akin to the Christmas advent wreath. You can even light a new candle each week, and use purple candles to symbolize Jesus’ royalty, then change them to black to stand for his death the Sunday before Easter, and change them to white candles on Easter Sunday to celebrate his resurrection.
When hanging a crown of thorns on a cross, keep scale in mind. It should not be too big or too small in comparison to the cross. If it is large compared to the cross (bigger than the top piece), put it to the side, or behind the cross (as in the photo directly above this one.) If it is too small, find a different place to display it, such as a smaller cross.
Adding a white cloth and flowers to a crown of thorns makes a striking flower arrangement for the front of the church, or in the foyer where people can see it as they arrive at church. To make the flowers last longer, wrap the ends in a wet paper towel, and wrap that in tinfoil. Hide the ends with some of the white cloth. Another method is to put a small vial of water with a rubber stopper on the end of each stem. Some flowers are sold with these on them, so don’t throw them away--save them for Easter!
Unfinished crosses can make an inexpensive mobile for a stairwell or foyer in the church. Simply screw a hook in the top of each cross, tie them with ribbon, and hang them from a wooden embroidery hoop. These are hung in a spiral with wooden beads on the ribbons above them, accenting the spiral pattern.
If you don’t have the courage to design your own banners, you can buy one of these books that both have very nice patterns that you can enlarge on a copier. If you can find a source for freezer paper, trace the pattern onto there, and iron it to the felt and cut out the shapes. The freezer paper just makes sure the pattern doesn’t slip--but you can use straight pins instead. Then remove the freezer paper and glue to the background fabric (inexpensive Walmart tablecloths, in this case) view more Easter banners
