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The Couple that Dresses the Chapel for Christmas

The Fergusons' decorations bring 'life and love and light' to the chapel 

Each year in December, Duke Chapel’s sanctuary gets a Christmas makeover. The decorative transformation – called the greening of the nave – includes 12 garlands, 18 poinsettias, 34 wreaths and red bows, more than 100 candles and plenty of little white lights.

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At the helm are two longtime members of the Congregation at Duke Chapel, Jim and Ellie Ferguson.

“We do whatever we can to bring life and love and light to this chapel,” Ellie said.

The entire operation takes two days with a dozen people working with ropes, pulleys and ladders. Ellie is in charge of the wreaths, candles and poinsettias on the ground floor, while Jim takes the lead on the garlands and lights hanging in the triforium arcades overhead.

“We’re really trying to play to the simplicity of the building – to enhance it but not overdrive it,” Jim said.

The Fergusons have deep ties to the chapel. They were married there and were among the founding members of the current congregation. Jim’s connection to the chapel goes back to when he was an undergraduate at UNC-Chapel Hill and began attending services at Duke.

The greening tradition began in the 1980s under then-Chapel Dean William Willimon.

“The decorations up to that point had been OK but erratic and not well planned,” Jim said. “[Then-Chapel Music Director] J. Benjamin Smith went to Will and said, ‘Give us two years and if you don’t like what we’re doing then we’ll turn it over to somebody else.’

“And that’s what started the evolution of what you see now.”

There are details you might miss as a casual visitor, the Fergusons said. For example the tall candles in the windows are actually six inches long but are encased in taller fireproof shells and sit on spring-loaded platforms that elevate the candles as they burn down. Also, there are wreaths visible only when headed out of the building because they are hung on columns facing away from the main entrance.

“It’s still really beautiful every time we finish,” Ellie said. “It’s like, ‘Wow! It really still works.’”

“Someone is always touched about something in that space,” Jim said, “and Christmastime seems to be a bit more intense.”

Pictured below, Jim and Ellie Ferguson

 

xmas at the chapel