by Katherine Kim

I joined this knitting group from Campbell United Methodist Church just before the COVID pandemic started. Unfortunately, we were not able to meet in person for over a year. Now we meet at the church once a month, on the 4^th Monday of the month. It is a blessing to be able to be part of this group!

One of the members, Laura Smith, told me about this wonderful ministry:

The Prayer Shawl Ministry at Campbell UMC was started by Cheryl Olsen as something fun to do during the summer, back at least 12-13 years ago.  She offered to teach non-knitters how to knit so I was on board.

We had a specific pattern so all Prayer Shawls were about the same shape and size. The yarn was washable Lions Brand because that made the shawls easy to care for and the yarn was readily available.

We had a small but enthusiastic group of knitters and beginners.  We met twice a month and were supposed to wrap things up the end of August that year.  That did not happen.  We overwhelmingly wanted to continue.

Our Prayer Shawls still today are blessed by the group, and are given to those in our congregation and beyond who need to feel God’s warmth surrounding them as they grieve, recover or just struggle with some of life’s hard times.  The recipients enjoyed getting them and we loved making them.

As a group, we have shared a lot and welcomed new members.  And like all close groups, we have mourned our losses as well.  We are back to monthly gatherings now that Covid restrictions have eased and I’m hopeful we’ll continue making Prayer Shawls for a long time.