You may have noticed a new banner hanging at the bottom of the stairs at church. This
banner came to us from St. Chad’s. Please read below to learn more about the Prayer
Shawl Ministry and how it came to be. Thank you Audrey for the explanation.
In the spring of 2007 one of our parishioners - Donna Volkar brought to our
House Group a booklet on the Prayer Shawl Ministry which comes from Israel. In it
were patterns, prayers, what the colours represented and ideas how to run this Ministry
in a parish. Copies of this book were made and handed out to those who would like to
knit or crochet a shawl or lap blanket. We decided to make shawls for our shut-ins at
that time and made 21 shawls. These were blessed and then delivered to our shut-ins
and warmly received. Audrey makes a bookmark as to the person the shawl was given
to and a card is prepared to attach to the shawl. A wall hanging was made and blessed
and it provided a place to keep the bookmarks in and this wall hanging was placed in an
area visible for all to see. After the shut-ins received their shawls we started giving
shawls to ladies and lap blankets to men who were in hospital or very sick. Audrey
would be notified and record it on the bookmark, wrap up a prayer shawl and prayer
card and make arrangements for it to be delivered. At one point in our ministry we had
so many prayer shawls and lap blankets that I approached Heritage Lodge and we
donated some of them so that they could be given to someone in need. We have
several people in the parish who knit or crochet the shawls. They are then blessed and
given out. Since the beginning we have prepared 165 Prayer Shawls and Lap Blanket.
Thanks be to God
Audrey Kelly
We will continue in this tradition of recognizing those who have created the shawls and
those who have received a shawl. Thank you to Audrey for creating a St. Andrew’s
bookmark and card. If you have a loved one who you would like to receive a shawl
please let Reverend Liz know. Reverend Liz will also be able to assist you if you wish to
knit shawls for this ministry as well as to bless any shawls that have been made.