Katrina volunteers to receive hand-made prayer shawls

A UMNS Report By Kathy L. Gilbert*

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.

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.

"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.