Mae Runions

Four Commissions

Right to left:

1) First Baptist Church, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Easter, 1985

I was engaged (through conversations with Dr. Naomi Hersom) to create a Pulpit Antependium and Communion Table Cloth to be given in memory of Burnie Thue, and dedicated by Rev Robert McLaren. As the pulpit is a symbol of the importance and centrality of the Scriptures, the antependium bears two visual symbols of growing grain and light. The grain motif arises from Luke 8:11, '...the seed is the Word of God’, and the light of Scripture is conveyed by the colors of the prism and the reflected light of the gold. The matching Communion Table Cloth carries the ancient eucharistic symbols of wheat and grapes as the sources of bread and wine which symbolize the broken body and shed blood of Jesus Christ. The arch motif repeats and reflects the architectural arches in the room.

2) Trinity Baptist Church, Vancouver, B.C., Pentecost, 2006

Dr. Greg and Mrs Carol Anderson commissioned me to do a pulpit hanging to mark his induction as the minister of this church and to express a motto of the congregation: ‘Receiving and Sharing Grace’. The idea of Grace was to be reflected by using bold colors from the room and the stained glass, and by the arches suggesting we need to step into it, mediated by the Holy Spirit while centered in Jesus’ death.

3) Hanging for the home of Mary Murray, Vancouver, B.C., 1991

Mary Murray was a devoted community member of our congregation at St. Faith’s Anglican Church. She was very supportive of my work there and asked me to do something for her home. The result was this piece: ‘You Renew the Face of the Earth” (Psalm 104: 29, 30).

4) Fairview Presbyterian Church, Vancouver, B.C., 2003

"The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks were split."(Matthew 27:51). The cross is emerging. The church had recently done a renovation of the platform area with the organ speakers mounted above in a central box. Through member Dal Schindell they asked me to do a hanging, using acoustic fabric, to be mounted in front of the box. Grant and Grace Wilson were able to install it.