I love the community at Church Answers! We received this question from one of our Australian community members. With some minor changes to protect confidentiality, here is the question in full:
This may categorize as vastly different cultural norms, but as an Australian who has recently spent a few months in the US I couldn’t help but notice the amount of effort, and no doubt coin, churches seem to invest in floral arrangements. Many of these are fake flowers (and the church provides a storeroom or two for these to be housed) and many have fresh flowers, every single week.
I have nothing against flowers, in fact I love fresh flowers but it’s just not something we generally have in Australian churches, and certainly not on a regular basis. Coming from a church that has a very limited budget, where quite literally every dollar counts, the main objection I found myself having was in keeping first things first, wondering how the money invested into these ‘beautification projects’ were enhancing the presentation of the gospel to help save souls and further the kingdom?
Some arrangements were tasteful and lovely, and some not so (I realise beauty is subjective, but these fake flowers looked like they hadn’t aged very well at all in the last 20 years). I was given the impression that there were whole committees dedicated to this task and that it would cause great offence to perhaps a number of people to even suggest to have ‘less flowers’ so that funds might be used elsewhere (namely, I was thinking for outreach and evangelism purposes).
So, please forgive my ignorance, but can you help me understand more about church beautification and the emphasis on floral arrangements? Is it just a cultural norm and generally expected? Is it helpful in pointing church goers to Christ? And what’s been your experience if you have ever suggested to spend less money on flowers?
How Would Your Respond to Our Australian friend?
- Does your church spend time and money on flowers?
- Is it worth the time, money, and effort?
- Do you have some ugly fake flowers in your church?
- Do you have flower committees that spends more time on flowers than the church does on evangelism in the community?
- What other input do you have?
Outside Eyes and Stewardship
It is fascinating to hear from someone who has a totally outside perspective and wonders why many of our churches do what they do. In this case, the outsider seemed perplexed with our churches’ abundant emphasis on flowers.
How would you respond? Let me hear from you.
Posted on May 28, 2018
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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93 Comments
I have as of yet to be a member of a church that didn’t have some kind of floral arrangement at the altar that regularly rotated based on seasons and events. I’m not sure what else goes into the rotation, but there always seems to be one! My impression of this has to do with historical traditions of volunteerism and church democracy. Our church buildings tend to be simple in design and multipurpose, so the flowers seems to be a way to bring a little bit of decorum into an otherwise plain space. Also, congregational rule gives a lot more power to individuals and committees who care about sustaining traditions. So you can bring up questions like “Does this contribute to missions and evangelism?” , but depending on church by-laws and balances of power, executive decision making from the pastor, deacons or elder board is severely restricted, especially on a peripheral issue like this one. I think it says a lot about church polity. Also, because churches have been a central of social life as well as worship throughout American culture, we do get a lot of, for lack of a more positive way to put it, fluff attached to church. Many American Christian denominations continue to encourage people of all ages to get their social needs met at the local church, sometimes to help with evangelism and community relevance, and sometimes because it’s what you are “supposed” to do, or perhaps to boost attendance. The American church is very competitive with members and attendance. In areas where there are 2 churches on every corner, perhaps you feel you have to be! There’s BINGO on Tuesday nights and an exercise class on Saturday mornings. Oh, and a flower committee for the older ladies so they can spend time together and make a contribution. These things can be done “as unto the Lord,” and I can’t judge hearts. But some of it parallels what you would see in a social society with members dues.
So I think it’s a very fair thing to question, but pastors and church governing boards interesting in making these changes might decide its better to just let sleeping dogs lie. And since the families of the flower committee members are probably backing the church financially (few American churches receive much financial support from their denominations for daily expenses, which includes the pastor’s salary), you will find people treading lightly where florals are concerned.
I agree with Dave that this is more an issue of style than anything else. I don’t think most modern businesses use flowers for decorations. I doubt you would see many if any flowers at mega churches. I think this is another style indicator. Look at a churches floral arrangements and you could about tell what style of music they have, and about what their practical “target” audience is. Or, if you’re wrong about style of music and target, there is most likely some conflict over those issues. Flowers (like many other things like graphics, music style, paint color etc) May be indicators that a church may still be trying to live in the 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s. Which is not necessarily wrong at all, just something that may need to be owned in terms of target audience.
Not everything in the church is about outward evangelism. Sometimes it is about building up the members, who in turn are being built up to be sent out. Other times it is about praising and glorifying God. Would we say that the use of all the gold and silver and ornate decorations on the tabernacle were a waste of money that could have been used for better purposes? No – it was commanded by God. Our church teaches that we give God our best, including what we use in the building. That is why there are so many ornate church buildings. That is why we use only real flowers or plants in the sanctuary at our church. The moneys for the real flowers are donated, as others have said already in this thread, as an offering to God in memory of someone or in thanks for a celebration of birth or marriage anniversary etc. Then the flowers are used to bless others afterward, if the person who donated the money does not want to take them home. They are taken to members who are in the hospital or who are shut-ins. It gives us an opportunity to minister to them as well. Again, not evangelism, but caring for the flock which is also commanded by God. The focus is on God throughout, not us. Sure, there can always be misuse and improper focus on things in the church, but that is our human tendency!
It is interesting to hear different perspectives. A recent secret worshiper who is unchurched indicated they appreciated our live plants and flowers rather than fake ones. They went on to say live fresh flowers and plants help to reinforce the meaning of life and salvation.
We don’t do committees and members volunteer to bring flowers for church. They are then taken to care facilities.
I found this question to be a bit curious! Maybe because this person was in an unfamiliar church she felt the need to assess the use of flowers? I found myself having to think about what we do and I came to two conclusions. 1. We have a contemporary service that meets in a renovated gym and traditionally this is attended by younger and more energetic people and 2. We have a traditional service that meets in the sanctuary and typically you will find the aging and late risers there. In the contemporary service I don’t recall seeing flowers and in the traditional service we have green artificial pots and when someone donates fresh flowers in memory of someone. I personally don’t give much thought to flowers as I attend to worship!
She was actually in several churches and noticed the flowers in most of them. It seemed odd to her to the pervasive use of fake flowers in America. It stood out because it seemed both pervasive and contextual.
“Garden” of Eden… yes, it’s a joke.
Got it!
We had many fake flowers displayed around the church, a room full of fake flowers, a budget for fake flowers, a committee to oversee the fake flowers…but no budget or plan for missions and evangelism. I love saying this in the past tense! We now have nothing to do with fake flowers, all gone and we are becoming a going, externally focused church with a budget for missions and evangelism. 4 mission teams going this summer and serving the community!
Now that’s a great story, Richard!
Growing up in a poor church in the south, I’m sure the fake flowers had been donated over the years and were reused constantly. You know they are old when the dust has built up on them and can’t be scraped off. Fresh ones were only there on Easter.
That’s a lot of dust, Mark!
We have a flower lady.
She has rooms in her house where she stores her silk flowers. She has a huge passion for flower arranging.
My problem is… all her arrangements look like 1950’s funeral arrangements. The older folks love them and the younger folks laugh at them.
Is this flower issue as much a generational issue as anything else? It is in my church.
If we don’t speak to her regularly, every table in the church will have a huge arrangement on it.
It bothers me because we work hard to reach young families and this makes a loud statement as you walk into to doors.
How do we love this woman and not create unconscious barrier with the next generation?
Good questions, Dave.
We’ve always had flowers or arrangements as well mainly from a purely aesthetic viewpoint. Seems to be, these Alabama ladies love their flowers and they want to share that with the rest of us. If you’re gonna take away the flower budget, add it to the children’s budget. They will appreciate it. It’s possible someone would love to donate the flowers instead of using church funds. Great question!
Thanks, Waylon.
For many years we had a florist that provided our church with flowers for a very minimal cost. In all the years they never raise the cost. It was very kind. Then someone, who had no business doing so, complained to the florist that the flowers were not up to their standard. At that point, the florist deemed us ungrateful and decided they would no longer supply us with flowers. At that point, I’m thinking who cares? I am completely with our Australian brother who questions the purpose of adorning the alter with flowers. Beautiful ones not so beautiful. It does absolutely nothing to further the Kingdom of our Lord. We seem to major in minors and forget what we’re really here for. Since then, we have grown to be a growing mission church. We extend out into our community. We partner with them regularly. This did not all happen because the flowers went away, of course. My point is we stopped majoring in minors and got to the heart of our purpose. Flowers may be pretty but are inconsequential. Nothing wrong with having them or not having them. It’s when we make them one of our sacred cows that it becomes a problem.
Your last two sentences are gold, Lisa.
Decorations are important in homes and businesses in America. People have grown accustomed to feeling comfortable and relaxed. I believe we use flowers here as a means of relaxing people and making our churches appear to be more inviting.
Does this enhance evangelism? I don’t know. From my experience, it appears as though women tend to enjoy the flowers more than men. I believe I’m on firm ground when I say that women tend to have the influential voice in choosing a church to attend. In that respect, flowers would be an aid in evangelism.
Do these fake flowers take up space? Yes. Do we need to “prune” the old flowers? Yes. Are people resistant to change? Silly question. In our situation, we have no money budgeted for flowers. Usually, we have a few concerned people that enjoy this ministry and support out of their extra giving. Is fake better than real. Thinking long-term, it may be cheaper. Additionally, you don’t seem to run into allergy problems with fake flowers.
Good points, George.
I have a good friend/pastor who studied with the Jesuit perspective. He has really challenged me to think about what fake plants say to people. God is a God of light and life. Are our churches full of fake light and fake life?
He made me wonder if fake plants make an unconscious statement about your God? Our people? Our faith?
Maybe I’m reading too much in.
Interesting perspective, Dave.
Another point of view:
I had use the Christmas tree in our church as an illustration of a life condemned to dry out and to be burn, but in a place of honor, and dressed up “full of life”, lights and ornaments but in reality is dying. If it is plastic, it is not really alive at all. That’s image culture.
Also In some of our churches you can set it up as you want it, as long as you pay for it.
I can understand the idea about “fake.” I would love to use real flowers. However, I have a number of members who are allergic to real flowers.
At our church we also have a few ladies who donate their time and energy to organizing and arranging the artificial flower decorations (We opt for very few fresh flowers due to allergies, but most people can not tell they are artificial). All of the arrangements are tasteful and updated frequently. All items are donated, so no money is spent. Many of our members choose to have artificial flowers at their relative’s memorial services, donating the arrangements and adding to our collection. Once an arrangement is starting to look worn, the ladies disassemble it and reuse the flowers that are still nice. They see this as using the talents the Lord has given them to uplift and brighten people’s day.
One of the recent developments of this project is that we have several young people (both boys and girls) who show an interest in the decorations and these older ladies are mentoring them. One of our ladies says “Nothing says loving like discussing the beauty of God’s creation.” They talk about how God has made us with different gifts, how he made the plants to look, and the blessings we have to be able to create artificial arrangements that look so lifelike to honor his creation.
I am sorry that the visitor from Australia did not have that question answered while she was in those churches she visited. I would invite her to ask the story about the flowers the next time she attends. Our church loves to answer the story of our flowers and the reasons behind them and quite frequently we acknowledge those gifts in our newsletter and bulletin, especially if a new arrangement was made or donated by someone.