Prayer Shawl Ministry
The UPL Prayer Shawl Ministry needs YOU!
A small group of women here at United Parish of Lunenburg creates prayer shawls to give to any one in need of prayers. There are happy and sad reasons to give a Prayer Shawl. Many of you have received one or know someone who has. There is never a cost to request a shawl for a friend or loved one.
We need your support. If you knit or crochet, you could make a shawl. (We like quilted ones too.) We have patterns and more can be found on-line. Many hands make work light. We meet on alternating Monday mornings if you’d like to join us.
Or perhaps you would prefer to offer a different type of support. The beautiful, soft, warm yarn that we prefer costs $6 per skein. Occasionally it’s on sale, but not often. We’ve tried other yarns but few are as soft and comforting as the brand recommended by the founder of the Shawl ministry. Most members of the group are retired, living on small fixed incomes and cannot afford to pay for every shawl they make. Your generosity has seen us through 15 years of this ministry!
If you can support us financially, please make your check out to UPL and say “Prayer Shawls” in the memo. We will add your prayers to ours as we knit/crochet them in to our work.
And...thank you!
Betty, Jan, Martha, Meg, and Noy
A small group of women here at United Parish of Lunenburg creates prayer shawls to give to any one in need of prayers. There are happy and sad reasons to give a Prayer Shawl. Many of you have received one or know someone who has. There is never a cost to request a shawl for a friend or loved one.
We need your support. If you knit or crochet, you could make a shawl. (We like quilted ones too.) We have patterns and more can be found on-line. Many hands make work light. We meet on alternating Monday mornings if you’d like to join us.
Or perhaps you would prefer to offer a different type of support. The beautiful, soft, warm yarn that we prefer costs $6 per skein. Occasionally it’s on sale, but not often. We’ve tried other yarns but few are as soft and comforting as the brand recommended by the founder of the Shawl ministry. Most members of the group are retired, living on small fixed incomes and cannot afford to pay for every shawl they make. Your generosity has seen us through 15 years of this ministry!
If you can support us financially, please make your check out to UPL and say “Prayer Shawls” in the memo. We will add your prayers to ours as we knit/crochet them in to our work.
And...thank you!
Betty, Jan, Martha, Meg, and Noy
Always welcoming new crafters!!
Our meetings have been suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage you all to continue to make prayer shawls at home. We need shawls! You don't have to come to meetings to contribute. Bring your knitted, crocheted, or quilted prayer shawls to church, or drop by the office any time. The Prayer Shawl Ministry of the United Parish is one of hundreds around the world. Inspired by two graduates of Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut. Janet Bristow and Vicky Galo co-founded the ministry in 1998, and like all good ideas, the concept spread quickly to churches worldwide. So many people want to serve, to comfort, to give of their talents. (See Janet and Vicky’s site at http://www.shawlministry.com/.) Knitted with loving hands, the shawls are symbols of God’s all-embracing love and constant presence. In our church, shawls are given by the pastor, a lay pastor, a parishioner or a friend to anyone facing one of life’s transitions, whether it be a sad or joyful time. Shawls are given to people undergoing surgery, in need of healing, at a time of grief, divorce, job uncertainty; to a new mother, at a time of baptism, in support of someone taking a new direction in life. Since we began this ministry in the spring of 2003, we have presented over one hundred shawls. |
All who become part of the ministry are blessed, whether as a knitter or as a recipient of a shawl. As Janet Bristow writes, “The blessing is rippled from person to person, with both the giver and receiver feeling the unconditional embrace of a sheltering God!”
At our meetings, we open with prayer, we knit, crochet, and piece our shawls. We talk, share new patterns, new fabrics and new yarn colors, and we pray for God's blessing on the completed items to be given away. We meet on alternating Mondays at 9:30 a.m. in our chapel at 39 Main St. We are also looking to start an evening group for those working crafters. Please join us. come once, come every time, come whenever you like or not at all. You can bring finished items to give with out ever attending a group. Everyone is welcome – beginners to experts. For more information and materials, please email or call the church office 978-582-6572 You created every part of me, knitting me in my mother's womb. For such handiwork, I praise you. Awesome this great wonder. Psalm 139: 13-14 |