Nancy Kelly White and a Lifetime of Beauty at First Presbyterian

Full Circle: Nancy Kelly White and a Lifetime of Beauty at First Presbyterian

Some people serve the church for a season. Others become part of its story.

For more than three decades, Nancy Kelly White has helped shape the beauty of worship at First Presbyterian through her work with the Flower Guild. Her arrangements have welcomed worshipers on ordinary Sundays, framed Easter mornings and Christmas celebrations, honored beloved members at funerals, and quietly pointed generations of people toward God's presence. Yet Nancy's connection to First Presbyterian began long before she ever arranged a single flower.

Nancy was born into a family whose roots at First Presbyterian stretch back for generations. She was baptized in the church in 1949 and grew up surrounded by the rhythms of congregational life. She remembers a different church campus than the one we know today. There was no chapel then, just a large grassy area where children played after worship. Parents would gather their children from a spot affectionately known as "the rock," where they would inevitably be piled together at the top after church.

Her father, Jack Dempster, was a deacon at First Presbyterian. One of Nancy's earliest memories is sitting in the balcony and watching him serve. After communion, he would return to his seat and hand her the white carnation he wore in his lapel. She remembers holding the flower in her hands, breathing in its fragrance, fluffing its petals, and admiring its beauty.

Looking back now, that small moment feels almost prophetic.

What seemed like a child's fascination with a flower became the beginning of a lifelong love. "In a lot of ways, it all came full circle," Nancy says.

Nancy credits much of that love to her mother, Gertrude Dempster, a gifted flower arranger and longtime member of the Flower Guild. "She was a teacher by nature," Nancy recalls. Whether arranging flowers or teaching Sunday School, Gertrude believed in sharing what she knew. Over the years, Nancy learned from her mother's example, helping with arrangements and absorbing lessons that would eventually shape her own style.

After marrying her late husband, Brian Kelly, in 1977, the couple found themselves navigating two different faith traditions. Brian was Catholic and Nancy was Presbyterian, so they compromised and began worshiping at Ascension Episcopal Church. Nancy became involved in the Flower Guild there and even built a successful floral design business on the side, creating arrangements for weddings, parties, and private clients.

Yet First Presbyterian never completely let go of her.

Her mother frequently recruited her help for church arrangements, drawing her back into the life of the congregation one bouquet at a time. Then, in 1992, following the death of her father, Nancy, Brian, and their sons returned to First Presbyterian to worship alongside her mother. Nancy remembers sitting in the sanctuary and realizing she never would have imagined that she and her husband would one day be worshiping together in the church where she had been baptized as a child.

What began as a return home soon became a renewed calling.

"I had a real feeling of being needed," Nancy says. "It just seemed much more fulfilling to do it at First Church."

Since then, Nancy has spent more than 30 years helping create the visual beauty that has become such an important part of worship at First Presbyterian. She has planned Easter celebrations, served as Flower Guild chair, studied floral design at the Washington National Cathedral, and mentored newer members who are now carrying the ministry forward.

For Nancy, however, flower arranging is about much more than decoration.

"There is a peacefulness in having beauty in our sanctuary," she says. "The flowers, the music, the sanctuary itself—they all work together." Positioned beneath the Resurrection Mosaic, the flowers become part of something larger, drawing the eye upward and helping create an atmosphere of reverence and wonder. "When the flowers are placed beneath the mosaic, it all kind of crescendos there," she says. "It lifts people and helps create a space where they can experience God's presence."

That belief—that beauty can help people notice God—has helped guide Nancy's work for decades.

She has witnessed its power most clearly during Easter and Christmas. As the sanctuary fills with flowers, greenery, and light, she watches people enter and pause. The arrangements do more than decorate a room. They help create a sense of anticipation and awe.

"It is welcoming, too," Nancy says. "It's saying this is important. We've done this for you, and we want you to enjoy it and reflect."

Some of Nancy's most meaningful work has come during times of grief.

She remembers preparing flowers for funerals and feeling a profound responsibility to honor someone's life through beauty.

"I remember working on flowers for someone I didn't even know and thinking about that person, trying to make it right for them and trying to honor them," she recalls. "It was almost like a sensation. It made me more attuned to the sacredness of what we were doing."

One arrangement for longtime Flower Guild member Frances Lothrop remains especially meaningful. Because Frances was an avid gardener, the team incorporated ferns, Solomon's seal, and other natural elements that reflected her love of growing things. As people entered the sanctuary, they immediately recognized her presence.

"People would come in and say, 'Oh, that's so Frances,'" Nancy remembers.

Over the years, Nancy's faith has deepened alongside her ministry.

When asked how her faith has changed during her years with the Flower Guild, she doesn't point to a single event or turning point. Instead, she describes the slow, steady work of God through the experiences of life itself.

"My faith has certainly matured and has more depth now," she says. "Life gives you happenings and experiences, closed doors and open doors, and somehow all of those things deepen your faith."

That same attentiveness shapes the way she experiences God's presence in everyday life.

Nancy has always found herself drawn to the beauty of creation. She speaks of camp experiences as a child, mountain vistas, ancient trees, and quiet moments outdoors that remind her of God's goodness.

"I've always been someone who is stirred by the outdoors," she says. "There has always been wonder in what you see." She pauses before describing family trips through the Smokies. "There are places where the trees are so old and majestic that we roll down the windows and breathe the mountain air. There's such beauty in what we've been given. You have to stop and take advantage of it."

Perhaps that is why Nancy's arrangements feel so natural in the sanctuary. They are not attempts to manufacture beauty. They are reminders of the beauty that God has already created.

Today, Nancy continues to arrange flowers, though she laughs that carrying boxes and buckets is not quite as easy as it once was. Yet one of her greatest joys is seeing others step into the ministry. Recently, she watched a newer Flower Guild member create a beautiful arrangement and found herself encouraged by the realization that the tradition will continue.

Someone else will come along. Someone else will create beauty. Someone else will help worshipers encounter God through flowers.

And much of that will be possible because Nancy helped show them the way.

For those of us who have watched Nancy serve, her impact reaches far beyond the arrangements themselves. Through decades of faithful work, she has helped make First Presbyterian more beautiful, more welcoming, and more reflective of the God we worship. Her flowers have marked celebrations, comforted grieving families, and quietly invited people to lift their eyes toward something larger than themselves.

From the white carnation her father once placed in her hands as a child to the arrangements she still creates today, Nancy's ministry has been one long act of gratitude—a way of honoring God, welcoming others, and helping people notice the beauty that surrounds them.

Like the flowers she lovingly arranges each week, her legacy is rooted in faith, shaped by generations, and offered back to God with grace.