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A Natural Christmas Church of the Good Shepherd, UCC, partners with the City of Albuquerque The
City of Albuquerque, Department of Parks and Recreation, Open Spaces Manager,
proves to be a reliable partner to the community in environmental matters.
Church of the Good Shepherd is grateful to the City and its Forestry crew
for their cooperation and assistance in making this pilate project a success.
Our Christmas wish: that some form of “A Natural Christmas,”
will become a “New Tradition” for the holiday season! |
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The City assisted the Church in selecting and transferring the trees from the nursury, where they are locally acclimated. Here, two Austrian Pine trees are the first to be loaded for their journey into Advent season. | ||
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Two Fat Albert Blue Spruce are loaded by nursury workers onto the truck, where they are destined to become part of a natural forest at Church of the Good Shepherd. | ||
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The City truck is filling up with trees, purchased by pledges from the congregation. The City will be the recipient of the trees, and beautify the landscape with the living gifts, when the forest moves from the Church into the open spaces at New Year´s. | ||
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Thirteen living trees were selected for the Advent and Christmas season, purchased by generous donations from the congregation. Three will be placed in classrooms where preschool children will decorate them with natural “ornaments” (environmentally friendly) that they make in class. | ||
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Eagerly awaited by staff ready for delivery, the City truck, with its live forest, arrives at Church of the Good Shepherd, Friday morning, Dec. 7, 2007. | ||
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“Could
you give us a hand?” “Sure. It's Christmas isn't it?” The Church and the City work together to unload the living trees. |
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Winter is hovering overhead, as the trees are brought into the church by NMIPL/COGS liaison, John Dickle. Church of the Good Shepherd, UCC, is a member of NM IPL. |
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The first tree of Christmas, a Deodor Cedar, is placed in the church sanctuary to “seed” the forest that will accompany it. The mountain in the background brings the outdoors inside. |
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More trees follow, as the City and the Church continue their joint project of the season. The trees must be large enough to plant in the city's open spaces, but not so large that they won't go through restricted spaces within the church. Six to Seven feet, potted trees, seem to work best for all. | ||
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Gifts to community agencies, particularly those serving children, will be offered by members of the congregation, and placed under the forest of trees, so that at Christmas time, the Spirit of Giving will be at the center of Christmas at UCC. | ||
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A “Natural Christmas” does not come without effort — Naturally! There is a rotation plan among church members to keep the trees uniformly watered while they are in the sanctuary. Heat is kept to a minimum (about 55 degrees F.) during the week, but energy conservation is part of the goal, of “A Natural Christmas.” | ||
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In keeping with the theme of “A Natural Christmas,” no electrical lights will be placed on any of the trees. Environmentally-friendly accessories ONLY! Here, Judy tries to emulate the mind of Mother Nature in arranging the forest within. |
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