Lapal’s Patronal Eco Flower Festival

At the end of June the Church remembers the martyrdoms of St Peter and St Paul and this year, for their Patronal Festival, St Peter’s Church in Lapal, just outside Halesowen, held an ‘Eco-flower’ Festival in a wonderfully creative way!

Curate Rachel Homer writes: 

“As you would expect the church was beautifully decorated with a stunning array of flowers from every kind representing the regular congregation, the new worshipping communities, and the many groups who use the church and hall throughout the year’s cycle.

The big difference however was that not one of the flowers displayed required floristry foam, careful watering or even daylight to survive.  Every single one of them was an “Eco-flower” i.e. it was with made from recycled items, and indeed reusable after the flower festival or it could simply be recycled without causing an impact to the wonderful creation we are custodians of.

As a church we decided to focus on Eco-flowers as we realised that many of the flowers used in previous years were either forced-grown in greenhouses to be available out of season, came from across the globe which resulted in huge carbon footprints or, as would have been the case this year due to the heatwave, they died before the weekend was over.

This year the flowers were made from practically anything and everything! From bottle bottoms to old t-shirts, handprints to jigsaws, all creatively planned to look bright and vibrant (regardless of the heat). Seeing the faces of the children from Lapal Primary School and our Toddler Group as they saw their creations displayed for all to see was an absolute delight. Saturday afternoon brought an extra treat as members of Lapal Community Choir joined us, filling the church with summer‑themed songs.

Their music drifted through the displays, and visitors from among the Parish and wider afield could be heard humming along as they wandered.

As well as viewing the beautiful displays set across the church, there was also the opportunity for every visitor to be part of some new eco-flower installations.

‘Lapal blooming rocks’ will create an all year round flower bed of beautifully painted rocks as part of our outside area and our community handprint flowers were transformed into a beautiful altar frontal to be used throughout the season of Ordinary Time showing that everyone who engages with us is truly part of a community that blossoms from the love of God which is shown and proclaimed to all.

The patronal weekend at St Peter’s was filled with creativity, connection, and plenty of smiles, along with a generous helping of scones and many other snacks and delicious homemade goodies! It was a celebration not only of our patron saints, but of the flourishing community that continues to grow at St Peter’s Lapal.”