N. Schlagel
Parish Nurse
St. Paul Lutheran Church -
An article in the Lutheran Magazine inspired one woman at First Lutheran Church in Bismark to develop a Prayer Shawl Ministry. The women of First Lutheran used their talents to knit shawls and to make cards to accompany the shawls. This ministry is one we have started here at St. Paul Lutheran. Directed by the parish nurse, this program invites people of the church to knit prayer shawls for those who are homebound, seriously ill and those with other needs. The parish nurse, visitation pastor, or one of the other pastors deliver the prayer shawls as needed.
What makes it a prayer shawl? As people knit, they weave prayers into the shawl. They begin with a prayer for blessing the shawl and then pray for the person who will receive the shawl throughout the process. When this prayer shawl is given to a parishioner, it is given with a special card that also tells who knit the shawl. Many people who have received a prayer shawl comment that they feel completely covered with prayer, warmth and God’s love.
If you would like to take part in the prayer shawl ministry, please stop by the church office or contact us online. We would be glad to share the pattern with you.
Maybe you don’t knit, but would like to crochet a prayer shawl. As long as the size dimensions are in accordance with the pattern, it is fine to crochet or knit. The message that is to accompany the shawl should read something like this: It is our prayer that you use this shawl as a mantle of love: wrap it around you as you go about your daily activities, when you feel down, when you go out, when you sleep, whenever you feel a need for love and support, always remembering that the minister who wove prayers for God’s love and your healing into it with the intention that it would comfor you, continues to remember you in prayer. And may God bless you!
