Environment Committee

The Ave Maria Parish Environment Committee is a liturgical-related ministry under the direction of the Pastor and Parish Liturgist. Membership of the Environment Committee is open to all registered members of the parish, who wish to participate in this ministry’s activities.

Mission Statement

The Environment Committee is a ministry of the Ave Maria Catholic Church, which supports and richly enhances the parish’s liturgical needs and activities, by providing seasonally appropriate decorations in the church (which include: the sanctuary, nave, narthex, Dwyer Hall (when used for liturgical celebrations) and the Blessed Sacrament Chapel) in accordance with the established liturgical calendar.

Purpose

The primary purpose and goal of the Environment Committee is to assist the parish’s clergy, liturgist, and faithful by providing an atmosphere, which enhances liturgical celebrations and inspires everyone to worship and encounter a prayerful and reverent experience through religious decorations, signs, and symbols, which compliment the liturgical celebrations throughout the Liturgical Year of the Roman Catholic Church.  Decorations will be designed to stir the faithful to a sense of the presence of God; mystery and joyfulness; as well as warmth, beauty, and hospitality.  Such decorations include, but are not limited to:  live plants and palm trees in the Sanctuary; colored banners with appropriate liturgical season signs/symbols/themes; etc.

Responsibilities:

The activities of the ministry include to:

• Be knowledgeable of and comply with, established Church and parish norms and guidelines concerning liturgical decorations (e.g., General Instruction to the Roman Missal; Sacrosanctum Concilium; Built of Living Stones, etc.).  These include:
  • Aesthetics of Sacred Space
  • Characteristics of beauty, cleanliness, and a good eye
  • Importance of signs and symbols within the Roman Catholic Church
  • An understanding of the liturgical colors:
    • Violet: A sign of longing and penance, used in Advent and
    • Lent.
    • Rose: A sign of anticipated joy, used on the Third Sunday
    • of Advent and the Fourth Sunday of Lent.
    • White: The color of purity and of glory, used during
    • Christmas and the Pascal Triduum, as well as on certain feasts of the Lord and on feast of the Virgin many and some saints.
    • Gold: May be used on great solemnities.
    • Silver: May be used on great solemnities.
    • Green: Symbolizing growth, fruitfulness, and hope, worn
    • on Sundays and weekdays during Ordinary Time.
    • Red: Recalling the blood of Christ and the Martyrs, as well as the fire of the Holy Spirit, worn on Passion Sunday, Pentecost, Masses of the Holy Spirit, feast of the Holy Cross and apostles and martyrs.
• Coordinate directly with the parish’s liturgist for all purchases, unresolved issues with other parish ministries, operational concerns and maintenance requests, and/or topics of discussion for the parish’s monthly Liturgy Committee.
• Collaborate, if/as needed, with the parish’s Altar and Rosary Society regarding the decorating, changing of liturgical banners, etc., in the church’s sanctuary, worship, and gathering spaces.
• Collaborate, if/as needed, with the parish’s other ministries involved in liturgical celebrations (e.g., Coordinators of Sacristans; Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (EMHCs); Altar Servers; Proclaimers; Altar and Rosary Society, etc).
• (Entrusted with the care of the sanctuary and worship space) Provide and maintain a suitably well-decorated, warm, and welcoming dwelling place for Our Lord Jesus Christ and his people to gather together to worship. 
• Purchase, maintain, and clean or replace the materials needed for suitable decorations (e.g., banners, poles, plants, etc), as needed. *
• (*  as needed constitutes:  when soiled; the cloth’s edges are frayed and unserviceable; the plant is no longer suitable for display, etc).
• Change the decoration colors to denote the liturgical/seasonal color.
• Frequent and regular care of the living plants, trees, etc., in the Church.
• Maintain, clean, and/or replace decorations, if/as needed.
• Work in conjunction with the parish Liturgist and the Director of RCIA to construct and decorate the sanctuary for the Easter Vigil and Triduum activities.

Changes to and/or additions to the Environment Committee’s ministry responsibilities and duties will be at the sole discretion of the pastor (whether verbally or in writing), parochial vicar, and/or parish liturgist.  Resolutions to problems will be resolved by the Environment Committee with the parish liturgist.