PRAYERS & SQUARES

St. Laurence is pleased to have recently become Chapter 135 of Prayers & Squares. The Prayer Quilt Ministry, which began in 1992 at Hope United Methodist Church in San Diego, is now an interdenominational ministry in the United States, Australia, and the Marshall Islands.

What is a prayer quilt? It is a quilt made by request for a person with a special need--serious illness, impending surgery, tragic family circumstances. A heavy thread is used to take stitches through the quilt layers, with ends left free to be tied with square knots. When the quilt is ready for tying, it is placed in the sanctuary. Before or after receiving Communion, each person present ties a tie and says a silent prayer for the quilt's recipient.

The finished quilt is full of the love, hope and prayers of the congregation. Thus the recipient can literally wrap up in, and be comforted by, the prayers contained in the quilt.  Most of us are beginning quilters, but we keep in mind that it is not the pattern, color or workmanship that makes our quilts special, but the prayer that is symbolically contained in each. To learn more about Prayers & Squares, go to http://www.prayerquilt.org.