Wakefield Community Prayer Shawl Ministry
Wakefield Community Prayer Shawl Ministry started in 2010 and follows the model of Shawl Ministry started by Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo in 1998. We meet monthly to make shawls, bless completed shawls and share prayer concerns. The shawls are distributed to people celebrating joys or struggling with illness and loss.
The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the fourth Thursday of the month from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the Parish Helpers Room.
All are welcome! You need not be a member of the church to participate!
“She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.” Proverbs 31:13
“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
About the Shawls
In 1998, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, two graduates of the 1997 Women’s Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut gave birth to a ministry as a result of their experience in this program of applied Feminist Spirituality under the direction of Professor Miriam Therese Winter, MMS. Care and the love of knitting (and crochet) have been combined into a prayerful ministry that reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace. Many blessings are knitted into every shawl. The knitter begins each shawl with prayers for the recipient. Intentions are continued throughout the creation of the shawl. When the shawl is completed it is offered a final ritual before being sent along its way. As this gift has been sent along, some recipients have continued the kindness by making one themselves and passing it onto someone in need. Thus, the blessing is rippled from person to person, with both the giver and receiver feeling the unconditional embrace of a sheltering, mothering God!
For more information, prayers, patterns, please visit the Shawl Ministry website at https://www.shawlministry.com/