WITH THE CHURCHES OF TAURANGA NEW ZEALAND
"All things bright and beautful" was the theme song of the 'Flowers in Praise' celebration organised by the churches of Tauranga, New Zealand earlier this year.

The large modern Bethlehem Baptist church was decorated in a large selection of designs that had all taken a part of the popular Christian hymn as their design inspiration.
Most of the designs were traditional arrangements using flowers and plant material from the  Tauranga area .Both designers from local floral art clubs and lay people worked on the arrangements, which were large, often vibrant, using mainly fresh flowers.

The Bethlehem Baptist church used the opening  words of the song, " All things bright and beautiful, the Lord God made them all"
for the design on the right. Some of the flowers were silk, some were fresh, in this parallel design, featuring gerberas, arum and calla lilies, irises and ivy. Used on one side of the altar, it was large and effective as a complement to its surroundings. Click on the larger view to see the animal accessories used around the bottom.
 
Click here for a large view.
"Each little bird that sings" was the line used by the designers of the St Columba Presbyterian Church. The gold hoops encased the spectacular red waratahs, singapore orchids, alstroemeria and red and white carnations.
Click here for a large view.

Click here for a large view.
Faithway Christian Centre took the line,"He made them glowing colours" for this hot combination of oranges, purples and yellow, using silk gerberas,  and fresh berries, leucodendrum and strelitzia with butterflies, ladybirds and pukeko as accessories.

Click here for a large view.
The Omokoroa Community Church  celebrated the line,"He made their tiny wings" with silk singapore orchids, carnations and daisies in a pave style design.
What do you think of these colours? I just loved them. The flowers  were like jewels celebrating the line in the song," The purple headed mountains'.The designers, from the Seventh Day Adventist Church,  had spray painted the calla lilies purple to work so well with the cerise carnations and the purple irises. All the flowers in this arrangement were real and the three placements that made up the full design radiated from their position at the entrance to the church. 

Click here for a large view.

 


Click here for a large view.		 What a contrast all those vibrant colours were to this amazing 2 placement design by the Tauranga City Elim Church. They interpreted the line,"The cold winds of winter"  perfectly as you can feel the wintry chill as you look at the autumn leaves and silver foliage. 
The floral artist had threaded fallen leaves on wire to get wonderful rhythm into the designs, and then complemented the theme with astelia , lichen branches, and toetoe heads .
 
"The sunset and the morning" was the line by the Salvation Army floral designers, and they have really captured the feeling of sunrise and sunset, using the backlighting from the window to add grandeur to the work.
The sheer tulle drapes reflected the sun as it poured through the  window and was a powerful combination of  flower arranging and natural light.
Strelitzias, waratahs, safari sunset, carnations and New Zealand flax combined with orange silk gerberas and potted greenery to make the display.

Click here for a large view.
"How great is God Almighty who has made all things well" was the line used by the designers of the St Stephen's Methodist church.Elfin lilies, delphiniums and orchids were complemented by the drapes and globe of the world as accessories.
Click here for a large view.


Click here for a large view.

The Tauranga Floral Art Society used a modern European approach to their part of the song. "The rushes by the water, We gather every day," was presented as a landscape with aralia leaves painted light blue, stones and water effects complementing the rushes and reeds.
All proceeds of the celebration went to the Tauranga food bank and the Children's and Youth Ministry in the area. The event is held every year in the first week in September and entry is by donation.