About Shawl Ministry

History

The giving of comfort items within worship communities isn’t a new idea. It’s been done for centuries. But in the late 1990’s, 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 the crafts of knitting and crocheting with their experience in the Seminary’s program of Applied Feminist Spirituality to create what has come to be known as the Shawl Ministry. Alone or in the company of others, members of a congregation create items that will provide comfort to others in the congregation during times of need. Their idea (described more fully at www.shawlministry.com) has been embraced by groups and denominations throughout the country, including many UU congregations.

The idea for a Shawl Ministry at FUS began as the germ of an idea the work of Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo was briefly mentioned at a retreat in January 2006 during the FUS Quest spiritual development program. It lay fallow for two years, and found its way into the light in the long, deep winter of of 2008. It took only a word to get it started, and the seed that was planted at the Quest retreat blossomed into a full garden. Within two years over 50 people had created shawls, lap robes, and child comfort blankets that would provide comfort and connection for members of our congregation who would benefit from being surrounded by the symbol of the embrace of the congregation. Interest in the Shawl Ministry far exceeded our expectations. In March 2009 we expanded our commitment to include the Child Dedication Blanket Project. Each child who is dedicated at FUS receives a hand-made blanket marking this important rite of passage in the life of the child and family.

Goals

The FUS Shawl Ministry has three goals:

· To nurture social and spiritual bonds within our ever-growing congregation.

· To support the individual spiritual development of members of the Society through options of shared participation, involvement, and service.
· And to provide comfort and solace to members of our church community during times of difficulty and transition.

What distinguishes Shawl Ministry is the spirit of intentionality that goes into the creation of each piece. The comfort items are given by clergy and lay ministers in the course of their pastoral calls. We may or may not know who will receive the item we are making, but people are encouraged as they make the item to “weave” thoughts of comfort or connection into their work: A word, a prayer, a mediation, song, or poem, spoken or unspoken. Each item has been made by hand by people in our church community with a goal of providing comfort and connection. In this way, the item symbolizes the caring not of just one person, but of the whole congregation.

How We Fit in the FUS Structure

The Shawl Ministry is a component of the Lay Ministry. Organizationally, most of our activities fall under the umbrella of the Connections Council. One of the primary goals of the Connections Council is to nurture social and spiritual bonds and encourage meaningful connections among the people in the FUS worship community. We are guided and supported in our work by Jeanne Sears (Coordinator of Member Programs), and Karen Gustafson, Associate Minister.

The People Who Make Up the Shawl Ministry

As an “in-reach” program, the Shawl Ministry is made up of people who have some relationship with FUS, and who are interested in providing comfort items for people within FUS. Shawl Ministry members are most often members of FUS, but some are affiliates, or others who have a commitment to FUS. All skill levels are welcome. Since its start in 2008, over 50 members of the Shawl Ministry have contributed comfort items or child dedication blankets. Since that time, ministers and lay ministers have given over 75 , lap robes, child comfort blankets, and child dedication blankets. HOW WE MANAGE OURSELVES The day-to-day work of organizing and supporting the work of the Shawl Ministry is done by a small coordinating group. To assure that the Shawl Ministry meets the needs and interests of the participants, the coordinators from time to time survey members for new ideas and suggestions. The current coordinating group is: Lorna Aaronson, lorna464@gmail.com, 255-0296 Diane Medcalf, dmedcalf@tds.net, 836-1439 and Pamela Magee, mageepamela@charter.net, 257-5646. For more details about how we organize and do our work, please read the FAQ section of the website.

We maintain a private Google website for sharing more information. When you join the Shawl Ministry program, you'll receive an invitation to access the site.