The Chrismon Christmas Tree is an offering to God. The original Chrismon tree came about in 1940 when a minister used discarded christmas wrapping papers to make a tree for his church. It is our Tree of Life.

Chrismon is a combination of parts of two words: CHRISt and MONogram. A Chrismon is a monogram of Christ. The main requirement is that they refer to our God...being a monogram, a sign, a symbol, a type or combination of such figures. The earliest Chrismons were calligraphic letters. XP= Chi (x) Rio (P) of XPIETOE = Christ, Alpha & Omega and so on.

Chrismons are made in combinations of white and gold. White being the liturgical color for Christmas, refers to the Lord’s purity and perfection. Gold refers to His majesty and glory. We point to Christ as the Light of the world by using tiny white lights on the tree.

A crew of women from our church began reworking old Chrismons and creating new ones in January 2016. It took us about 5 months to accomplish this task. I’m sure we have over 300 hours in this project.  

Once we completed the tree decorations a smaller group of 7 women began work on the Chrismons for the church windows. We decided as a group which images we would use and we worked collaboratively to make aesthetic decisions along the way. This group probably logged close to 200 hours on this part of the project.

We had wonderful fellowship in both groups and give all glory to God for what has been created and accomplished and we are forever changed by the friendships we have grown along the way.

The following is a list of some of the images on the Chrismon Christmas Tree.

The Cross: There are many different types of crosses...Latin, Greek, jerusalem, triumphant, Tau, anchor cross, passion cross, St. Andrew’s cross, etc.

Sphere: The earth God created.

Manger: Where Jesus was born.

Triangle: Trinity, Triune God

Hand: God, the Father

Lamb: God, the Son

Descending Dove: God, the Spirit

Vine: the symbols of life and the fruits of the spirit

Circle: eternity, eternal life, or God the eternal One.

Stars: the close relationship between the birth and death of our Lord, Epiphany, creator, regeneration through Baptism and the gifts of the Spirit. Meaning is derived from the number of points on the star.

Fish: Jesus, the miracles of Jesus

Butterfly: Our Lord’s Resurrection

Wheat & Grapes: Bread and wine, the Body and Blood of our Lord

Lion: he tribe of Judah

Thorns: a representation of our Lord’s crown and suffering

Palms: Jesus enters Jerusalem

Feather: From the wings of angels

Chalice: The Last Supper

Bells: The call to worship

Shell: Baptism

There is a wealth of information available in our library and on the internet about Chrismons and Christian symbols, if you would like to know more.