New Around the Mission

Prayer Shawl Ministry Wraps Recipients in Love

March 29, 2011

Erin Betts was expecting her first baby when she received an unexpected gift: a prayer shawl from Living Faith Anglican Church in Tempe, Arizona. As she touched the soft, colorful folds, she found a note attached:

"This shawl was knit with love and care,
each stitch made with a special prayer.
To warm you when you feel a chill,
and hold you when you are ill,
To give you strength and hope and cheer,
To let you know that God is near.
As you wrap it 'round you tight,
know that God blesses you this night."

The shawl, knitted by members of the church’s Prayer Shawl Ministry, touched Erin’s heart. Since 2007, parishioners have put their crafting skills to good use knitting and crocheting prayer shawls, praying as they go. Upon completion, the Rev. Keith Andrews places the shawls on the altar during a Sunday service and the whole Living Faith congregation prays over them.

“I was amazed at how much time, thought and prayer went into this gift,” Erin recalls.

Now a mother of two, Erin, 30, serves as the coordinator of the Prayer Shawl Ministry, both making and collecting shawls from Living Faith parishioners ages 20 to 70 and distributing them to friends, neighbors, coworkers, and relatives. Erin personally delivered one to a friend who just lost her mother to cancer and another to a relative with chiari malformation.

“They were touched by the gift of love from Living Faith,” she says. “This ministry gives a purpose to my crafting, making stuff not only for me and my family but for those who need God’s love to wrap around them like a physical object.”

Shawl patterns and colors vary, but stitching is always in “threes” to represent the Trinity. A single stitch down the center represents the unity of the church. Most shawls consist of long rectangles or triangles that drape over the shoulders down to the wrists.

But warmth and comfort aren’t the only benefits—Erin says a prayer shawl once saved someone's life. The recipient was planning to attempt suicide, but because of God’s protection through the prayer shawl, she was unable to find the gun in plain sight on her end table. Stories like these encourage Erin that God is truly using the Prayer Shawl Ministry.

“People are really affected by handmade objects, and when it’s so special, it seems to go straight into their hearts,” she says. “Words help, but when you have something made for you, every time you see it, it reminds you of God’s love, people’s love and that you’re not alone.”

Learn more at Living Faith Anglican.

Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Faith in Action