WAUCONDA - Something as simple as knitting can make a huge difference in someone’s life.
That’s the belief that the prayer shawl ministry at Holy Apostles Episcopal Church in Wauconda has always had.
Prayer shawls are knitted for just about every occasion one can think of. The ministry does it for people they know and people they don’t know.
Marsha Taylor, one of the participants in the ministry, explained the process prayer shawls go through.
“We knit them here at our church and then they are blessed after our 10:30 a.m. services on Sundays,” she said. “We then send them to Good Shepherd Hospital where they are given to patients and others in need.”
The prayer shawls include either general notes or – in special situations, such as someone who is mourning the death of a loved one – the ladies will make their own messages. Taylor said the shawls have gotten nothing but positive feedback from those who have received them.
“When people receive these shawls, the response they give back to us is an indescribable feeling,” she said. “There’s just this aura of support, warmth and comfort they say they feel when they wrap the shawl around their shoulders.”
One of the shawls even substituted as clothing for a man in Canada.
“He was so severely burned that he couldn’t bear to wear clothing,” Taylor said. “The shawl actually became his clothing until he could stand to wear a shirt again. That touched my heart tremendously.”
The prayer shawl ministry at the church is open to anyone, regardless of religious affiliation.
“I think we’re just a bunch of neat ladies,” Taylor said, smiling. “There is no religion discussed here, so it’s really open to everyone.”
Taylor said the shawls seem to help aid patients in recovering faster while they’re hospitalized or have diseases. A man and his daughter had cancer, so the ministry sent them prayer shawls.
“They refuse to launder their shawls – and we promised them that prayers and blessing don’t wash out,” Taylor said, laughing. “Both of them had cancer and it has since gone [into remission].”
The ladies aren’t competitive with who knits the most shawls, but Jean Miller leads the way with 78.
“Others have made a lot, but she just keeps on producing,” Taylor said.
Taylor said the feeling she gets knitting the shawls is overwhelming.
“It’s such a good feeling that it’s indescribable,” Taylor said. “When we touch these shawls, we can just feel the prayers of the entire community.”
Nothing will stop the ladies from continuing to knit, Taylor said.
“A couple of the ladies have carpal tunnel syndrome and they’re still going strong,” she said. “We’re going to do this until our hands stop working.”
