The giving of comfort items within a religious community is not a new idea, but in the 1990s, two women attending Hartford Seminary in Connecticut gave a new voice to this long-standing practice. Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo combined their love of knitting and crocheting with their experience in the program of Applied Feminist Spirituality to create what has become known as the Shawl Ministry. Individually or in the company of others, members of a congregation create items to provide comfort to other members of the congregation in times of need. Their idea (described more fully at www.shawlministry.com) has been embraced by many faith communities throughout the country, including Unitarian Universalist congregations.

As part of our Pastoral Care program, a group of church members gather monthly to knit shawls and lap robes. The finished items are turned over to our minister, who, with input from our Caring Committee, give them to selected recipients in the course of their pastoral calls. Our intent is to provide hand-made shawls or lap robes to members of our congregation who may benefit from the care and connection to our community that a shawl conveys during a time of personal transition, difficulty, illness or bereavement.

What is special about the Shawl Ministry is the spirit of intentionality that goes into the creation of each piece. The creators will not know to whom the shawl goes, but people are encouraged as they make the item to “weave” thoughts or prayers of comfort and healing into their work. In this way, each item symbolizes the caring not just of one person, but of the whole congregation. If you would like more information about joining the Shawl Ministry, please click here.