Katrina volunteers to get hand-made prayer shawls
A UMNS Report
By Kathy L. Gilbert*
Aug. 27, 2007
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Barbara Dunlap-Berg sorts through more than 1,000
prayer shawls contributed by knitters in 30 states. The shawls are going
to volunteers who have helped with Katrina recovery efforts in the Gulf
Coast.
A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.
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United Methodist volunteers will be wrapped in "mantles of prayer"
during a special celebration to honor the hours of blood, sweat and
tears poured into the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast over the past two
years.
The Katrina Partner Celebration is set for Sept. 6-7 in New
Orleans to say thank you to the tens of thousands of volunteers who have
given their time, money and prayers since Katrina hit on Aug. 29, 2005,
said Bishop William Hutchinson, Louisiana Annual (regional) Conference.
The event, which also will encourage continued participation in
Katrina recovery efforts, is sponsored by the Louisiana, Mississippi and
Alabama-West Florida conferences. The conferences report that at least
63,550 volunteers have served the region during the past two years,
mostly to clean up and rebuild after Katrina. The volunteers came from
42 states, two foreign countries and 60 United Methodist annual
conferences.
A special part of the New Orleans celebration will include gifts of
prayer shawls collected from knitters throughout the United States.
Each shawl is a "mantle of support and a mantle of praise to God,"
said Bishop Hope Morgan Ward, episcopal leader for the Mississippi
Annual (regional) conference, who shared her dream with event organizers
to provide a prayer shawl to each volunteer recognized.
"A mantle is a simple cloth used for protection against the cold. A
mantle is a sign of the love and power of God. Let us pray that, through
the gifting of mantles, we will love one another as Christ loves us."
Knitters respond
Barbara Dunlap-Berg, a staff member at United Methodist
Communications, took on the task of collecting the shawls. She sent out
the word through a network of United Methodist annual conference
communicators, and colorful shawls by the box load began arriving at her
office in Nashville, Tenn.
|
Amelia Tucker-Shaw (right) and Deborah Jarrett sing
during a special worship service blessing the prayer shawls in
Nashville, Tenn. A UMNS photo by
Ronny Perry.
|
By late August, more than 1,000 shawls had been collected from knitters
in 30 states. While most will be distributed during the celebration, the
extras will go to those in the storm-stricken areas who are still in
need of comfort. Others will be reserved for future volunteers,
according to Dunlap-Berg.
The knitters represent a broad spectrum of the church. Williamsport
United Methodist Church in Maryland sent 27 shawls. In Pennsylvania,
knitters in 23 churches made shawls. Of the 31 shawls sent from Alabama,
12 came from the United Methodist Church in Gulf Shores, which is still
recovering from Katrina as well as hurricanes in 2003 and 2004. The
most distant prayer shawl came from Ventura, Calif.
"We trust that the volunteers will know the appreciation of a
grateful people and church," wrote the Rev. Jim Proctor in a note
included with shawls from United Church of South Royalton (Vt.),
Federated. "The prayers woven into these shawls are prayers of
thanksgiving for their sacrificial service to those in need."
Blessed to be a blessing
The shawls were blessed during an Aug. 8 worship service at the
Nashville headquarters of United Methodist Communications, at which the
Rev. Kathy Noble reminded worshipers of God's promise to Abraham in
Genesis.
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The Revs. Nancy Neelley and Kathy Noble bless the shawls at an Aug. 8 service. A UMNS photo by Ronny Perry.
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"After God promised Abraham land that stretches further than he can see
and descendents more numerous than the stars in the sky or the grains of
sand on the shore, God tells him he has been blessed to be a blessing.
What many of us have discovered is that as we are a blessing to others,
we too are blessed," said Noble, who serves as editor of the
denomination's Interpreter magazine.
Each shawl includes a gift tag with the name of the knitter, the
words from Isaiah 61:1-4 and these simple words: "May you be warmed by
its beauty and comforted by its grace. May your life be wrapped in God's
blessings!"
To contribute to United Methodist Katrina recovery efforts, give
online or through local church offerings to the Katrina Church Recovery
Appeal #818-001. Information about how to donate online, along with
details about the Katrina Partner Celebration, are available at http://www.umc.org/katrina.
*Gilbert is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
Related Articles
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Katrina one year later: remembering, rebuilding
Resources
Katrina Church Recovery Appeal
Louisiana Annual Conference
Mississippi Annual Conference
Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference
Prayer Shawl Ministry | 
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