On Sunday May 19th, there was a church rededication service in Water Mill that included the planting and distribution of living oak trees. Tree planting ceremonies can be good for the environment in more ways than one. Sharing a little love and grace never hurt anyone as of yet. Is this type of tree ceremony a common idea? What are the most popular ways trees are used in ceremonies today? I’ll get to these questions, but first a little description of this event.
In case you were wondering, the hazy photo was not doctored via Instagram. It was a hazy, drizzly day, but the better part of the rain held off until after the ceremony. Grace Presbyterian Church was celebrating the purchase of their own church building, while at the same time many members of the former church were in attendance. Thus, it was fitly named a rededication ceremony. The trees were used as a symbolic gesture to help bring home the idea that the church is a living organism made up of people rather than simply a brick and mortar structure made up of lifeless materials. That point was emphasized at the opening of the ceremony by Grace member and Corcoran real estate agent, Tristan Vaughan.
Pastor Mark Middlekauf noted the verse chosen to commemorate the ceremony, Isaiah 61:3: “So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” The church described the tree symbolism at their website: “We will plant a young oak tree on our property to symbolize our desire for Grace to be planted on the East End for many years to come. In addition to planting a tree, we will give an oak tree sapling to each family attending the ceremony. This is meant to symbolize the spreading of the good news of Christ throughout the east end.” Also as a part of the Grace Church ceremony, children picked up stones with various words written on them that reflected God’s grace and placed them around the new oak tree planting.
Famous contemporary tree ceremonies include annual festivals such as the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade located in Washington, DC, the Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony and the Trafalgar Square Christmas tree lighting ceremony. On May 1st, the LDS Church announced the planting of 400,000 trees in Haiti as a symbolic gesture of their presence there for 30 years.
On a more personal note, couples these days often opt for a unity tree during their wedding ceremony, as opposed to the traditional unity candle. During a relevant reading or song, the couple will together add a little water and soil to a small tree on a table. In a slight variation, the mothers of the couple also help by adding soil and water. This may help mother-in-laws to be remember the symbolic meaning of the gesture, that a new family has been formed.
The idea of disseminating small tree saplings to the people of Grace Church is helpful not just for symbolic reasons, the planting of trees has been described as the most inexpensive means of carbon dioxide absorption available. As noted by Mike McAliney in Arguments for Land Conservation, "A single mature tree is said to be able to absorb carbon dioxide at a rate of 21,6kg/year and release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support two human beings." (See Arguments for Land Conservation: Documentation and Information Sources for Land Resources Protection, Trust for Public Land, Sacramento, CA, December, 1993 for more information.)
News originally posted at Warren's Nursery
