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Religious congregations of all kinds have always had craft circles where women meet to make items for charity and to chat over coffee. In the last decade, there has been a movement away from casual crafting to something much more deliberate and religiously purposeful. Knitters, quilters, beaders and sewers who meet within congregations are increasingly adopting formal prayers, blessings and ceremonies performed at every stage of their craft.

These groups are spreading swiftly as interest and information jumps from congregation to congregation through books, the Internet, workshops and word of mouth. Two of the most popular ministries - Prayers and Squares, a quilting ministry begun in a Methodist church in San Diego, and the Shawl Ministry, begun by a group of women at Hartford Seminary in Connecticut - have watched groups spread to dozens of churches and some synagogues in the United States, Europe and Australia.

In the Shawl Ministry, knitters say prayers over their needles, yarn, each row and every stitch; the movement of yarn across needles becomes a kind of mantra. Quilters in Prayers and Squares pray over the fabric, the bunting and every stitch until the quilts and their recipients are blessed during the tying of the final knots.

Combining prayer with craft was a new concept for crafters who often belittle their own work, said Vicki Galo, co-founder of the Shawl Ministry: “It is an awakening.”

Craft has been transformed into a contemplative practice that spiritually benefits the crafter as well as the recipient, says Susan Izard, co-author of Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry (Morehouse Publishing, 2003). God exceeds intellectual understanding, she says, and spiritual knitting reflects that.

Why it Matters

Studies have shown that older people who engage in religious and spiritual practice often cope better psychologically and have better physical health than those who don’t. Most religious traditions value caring for the elderly. What will happen when there are many more older people with a wider variety of needs and spiritual preferences?

Questions for reporters

During Lent, talk to craft groups in local congregations about the spiritual side of their work. What does contemplative, intentional crafting contribute to the spirituality of the participants? To the life of the congregation? To the broader community?

What is it about crafting that especially lends itself to religious practice? Why is crafting with a spiritual purpose finding such welcome among congregations at this time?

Find two or more different religious congregations in your area that practice some form of organized, intentional craft and follow the making of a craft from the planning stage to the presentation of the item to someone in the community.

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National sources

• Susan S. Jorgensen and Susan S. Izard are co-authors of Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry (Morehouse Publishing, 2003). Contact Jorgensen at 860-673-1430, sjpresence@aol.com and Izard at 860-233-9605 ext. 103, ssizard@yahoo.com.

• Janet Bristow and Vicki Galo are co-founders of the Shawl Ministry, based in Connecticut. The idea for the ministry developed out of a women’s spirituality class they took at Hartford Seminary and a knitters’ group they formed there. Today, their web site receives 1,000 hits per week, and congregations across the country and around the world have adopted their model. Contact Galo at 860-828-5815, galofamily@comcast.net. Contact Bristow at 860-673-4260, mjbristow@msn.com.

• Kathy Cueva is the president of Prayers and Squares, an international quilting ministry that originated in her Methodist church in La Mesa, Calif. The goal of the ministry is not to make and distribute quilts, but to promote prayer through the use of quilts. Contact prayerquiltpres@cox.net.

• Louise Silk is a fiber artist who specializes in quilts. She is the author of The Quilting Path: A Guide to Spiritual Discovery Through Fabric, Thread and Kabbalah (Skylight Paths, 2006) which describes a Jewish approach to quilting. She lives in Pittsburgh, Pa. Contact louise@silkquilt.com.

• Susan Towner-Larsen and Barbara Brewer Davis are co-authors of With Sacred Threads: Quilting and the Spiritual Life (United Church Press, 2000). Towner-Larsen is working on another book, Within Sacred Circles: Meditations and Mandala Quilts (Pilgrim Press, 2004). Together and separately they lead workshops and retreats on spiritual quilting. Both are based in Columbus, Ohio. Contact Towner-Larsen at 800-282-0740 ext. 206, stwnrlrsn4@aol.com, and Brewer Davis at 614-487-7216.

• Bernadette Murphy is the author of Zen and the Art of Knitting: Exploring the Links Between Knitting, Spirituality and Creativity (Adams Media Corp., 2002). She is a fiction writer and lives in Los Angeles. Contact 818-956-7522, bernadet@lafn.org.

• Annie Modesitt, who is Jewish, is a hand-knit sweater designer who has written about and teaches workshops on knitting as a spiritual outlet. She lives in New Jersey. Contact her through email, annie@modeknit.com.

• Alissa J. Stern weaves Judaica items and has taught Jewish pre-schoolers to weave their own tallith, or prayer shawls. She has plans to teach tallith-weaving to a 4,000-member Jewish community in upstate New York. She lives in Bethesda, Md. Contact 301-320-7870, alissa@jewishweaving.com.

Background

• Read an April 2002 article from the Jewish Forward about Jewish crafting.

• Read a Jan. 3, 2002, article in The Sacramento Bee about crafting and women.

• Read prayers designed to be said over every stage of shawl knitting.

• Read a Nov. 16, 2002, article in the Hilton Head, S.C., Island Packet about the local Prayers and Squares ministry.

Regional sources

STATE BY STATE

• Prayers and Squares lists local chapters by state.

• The Shawl Ministry lists groups across the country.

IN THE NORTHEAST

• Bath United Church of Christ in Bath, Maine, has a Shawl Knitting Life Circle, a group of knitters that meets regularly to knit, pray and read scripture. Contact Nancy Lauckner at 207-729-4504 or Celestia Rice at 207-443-7437.

• First Presbyterian Church of Berkshire Valley in Berkshire Valley, Mass., has a knitting group. Contact 973-366-8440.

• St. Mary’s Parish in Shrewsbury, Mass., has a knitting circle. Contact Marti Page, 508-835-3470.

• The Unitarian Society of Hartford, Conn., has a knitters’ circle that meets before Sunday services. Contact Vicki Carey, 860-726-1989.

IN THE EAST

• St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in the Great Valley in Paoli, Pa., has a shawl-knitting ministry with about 40 knitters who pray while knitting. During Lent 2004, they will also begin a prayer bead ministry. Contact knitter and church member Julie Tampa at 610-722-9425, juliestampa@netscape.net.

• Trinity Episcopal Church in Bethlehem, Pa., has a “Crafting Our Prayers” ministry that has included quilting, breadmaking and crafting prayer beads and prayer shawls. Contact the Rev. Laura Howell or the Rev. Lexa Shallcross, 610-867-4741, laura@trinitybeth.org.

• Callie Janoff is co-founder of the Church of Craft and minister of its New York, N.Y., congregation. Contact tvecallie@churchofcraft.org.

• St. John’s Episcopal Church of Olney, Md., has an Anglican prayer bead service every week. Participants can make their own Anglican rosaries by ordering beads through the church. Contact the Rev. Benjamin Shambaugh, 301-774-6999.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

• Epiphany Cathedral in Venice, Fla., has a knitting ministry. Contact knitter and church member Gladys Cole at 941-488-5443, fbcole@comcast.net.

• Messiah United Methodist Church in Springfield, Va., has a Prayers and Squares ministry. Contact Edie Williams, 703-569-9862.

• Debbie Monchek is a director for social action at B’nai Aviv Conservative Synagogue in Weston, Fla. She tried to establish a knitting group there linked to the Jewish concept of performing “mitzvah,” or good deeds. Contact through the synagogue, 954-384-8265.

IN THE SOUTH

• St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Louisville, Ky., has held knitting circles for Warm Up America, a project that brings knitted afghans to the homeless. Contact Janet Warner at 502-459-2093, janetrwarner@insightbb.com.

• Church of the Ascension Episcopal Parish in Montgomery, Ala., has a Prayers and Squares ministry. Contact Ann S. Lewis, 334-271-1379, aslewis@charter.net.

IN THE MIDWEST

• Grace United Methodist Church in Sioux City, Iowa, has a knitting ministry that meets weekly to make caps and shawls for the sick and needy. Contact Glendy Nichols, 712-276-3452.St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Rockford, Mich., has a knitting ministry. Contact knitter Susan Deford at tsdedford@aol.com or pastor Diane Konynenbelt at ststephn@juno.com.

• Edgebrook Evangelical Covenant Church in Chicago has a knitting ministry called “The Crafty Angels” whose shawls and caps are blessed by the church pastor before being delivered to the needy. During Lent, church members plan to knit shawls for local elderly for delivery at Easter. Contact lay pastor Chris Pokorny, 773-267-3060, clpokorny@aol.com.

• Schoolcraft United Methodist Church in Schoolcraft, Mich., has a Prayers and Squares ministry. Last year, every church member helped create a “peace quilt” that was presented to U.S. Rep. Fred Upton. Contact pastor David Nellist, 269-679-4845.

• First Community Church of Columbus, Ohio, has a Prayers and Squares ministry. Contact 614-488-0681.

• Westminster Presbyterian Church in Sioux Falls, S.D., has just started a Prayers and Squares ministry that includes women of several generations. Contact Nancy Cunningham, 605-371-2084, heelspur@msn.com.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

• Paramount Terrace Christian Church in Amarillo, Texas, has a prayer shawl ministry. Participants ask for God’s blessing on yarn and needles, and when a shawl is completed, they pray for the recipient of the shawl. Contact Sandy Duncan, sandy@ptcc.org.

• ArtSpirit is a ministry of the United Methodist Church in Dallas that explores and interprets the mysteries of God and spirituality through the arts. It challenges spiritual seekers to use their creative talents in alternative and traditional forms of worship, scholarship and service to the world. Contact the Rev. Diana Brown Holbert, a trained musician and dancer and a clergywoman in the United Methodist Church, 214-826-2060, art.spirit@earthlink.net.

• First United Methodist Church of Tulsa, Okla., has a knitting ministry that combines knitting, crocheting and praying in the making of shawls for the sick and needy. Contact Denise Rounds, 918-496-1838.

• St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Houston, Texas, has a knitting ministry. Knitters recommend one prayer per row of knitting, and recipients report feeling “wrapped in the Holy Spirit” when they wear their shawls. Contact knitter and church member Melanie Fahey at 713-868-1136, melfahey@aol.com.

• St. Laurence’s Episcopal Church in Conifer, Colo., has a Prayers and Squares ministry that involves 10 quilters who have constructed quilts for cancer patients and ailing babies. Contact Pat Beckham by email only, pjbweb@aol.com.

• St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Yuma, Ariz., has a Prayers and Squares ministry that draws people from several churches and includes some who are unchurched as well. Contact Nancy Wright through the church for a callback, 928-782-5155.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

• Deborah Bergman is the Oregon-based author of The Knitting Goddess (Hyperion Press, 2000). Contact deborah@knttinggoddess.com.

• The Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco has observed Lent by forming a knitting group that knitted caps for babies in Third World nations. The caps were blessed by ministers before traveling overseas. Contact Susan Conrad, 415-863-4434, sjconrad@self-serv.net.

• The Seattle Church of Craft meets every second Sunday in Seattle. Contact Betsey Brock, sisterbetsey@churchofcraft.org.

• The Los Angeles Church of Craft meets in Los Angeles. Contact Reverend Allison, allison@churchofcraft.org.

• The Rev. John H. Farley is senior pastor at Foothills United Methodist Church in La Mesa, Calif., and has written about being the recipient of a prayer quilt. Contact 619-670-4009.

• St. Thomas of Canterbury Episcopal Church in Temecula, Calif., has a Prayers and Squares ministry. Contact Sharon Mittry at 909-696-9645 or Joyce Carney at 909-302-3606.

• Marysville United Methodist Church in Marysville, Wash., has a Prayers and Squares ministry. Church members make a quilt for someone in need and place the quilt in the sanctuary during Sunday worship, where members pray for the recipient as they tie knots that will hold the quilt together. Contact Ruth Sowards or Anita Jennings, 360-659-8521.

• Marci Greenberg teaches “Knitting by Torah” to Jewish teenagers in Seattle. The caps they make for cancer patients are considered a mitzvah, or good deed. Contact 206-525-3625, marcigreenberg@comcast.net.

• Nancy Katz is a textile artist in Berkeley, Calif., who facilitates “community art-making,” primarily in Jewish communities, helping congregations make prayers shawls, Torah covers, ark covers and banners. Contact 510-843-5280, nkatzart@aol.com.