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Picture Caption:  From left front, Betty Ranck, Chairperson of Outreach; Brenna Watts, Betty's granddaughter and daughter of SUN Home Health & Hospice Millerstown Office Secretary Amy Watts; and Lyndsay Hart, shawl crafter, lovingly display a few of the shawls donated.  Back row from left Annette Miller, RN, Director of SUN Home Hospice, and Deb Swigart, RN, SUN Home Care Coordinator, gratefully accept the generous donation.    

Locust Run United Methodist Church Donates Prayer Shawls to SUN Home Hospice 

The Locust Run United Methodist Church in Thompsontown recently donated 13 prayer shawls to SUN Home Hospice to be used in the Millerstown and Lewistown areas.   

Betty Ranck, Chairperson of Outreach at Locust Run United Methodist Church, shared the history about the shawls.  In 1998, Janet Bristow and Victoria Galo, two graduates of the 1997 Women's Leadership Institute at The Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut gave birth to a ministry as a result of their experience in this program of applied Feminist Spirituality under the direction of Professor Miriam Therese Winter, MMS.  Compassion and the love of knitting/crocheting (the shawls can also be quilted, woven or machine knitted as well) have been combined into a prayerful ministry and spiritual practice which reaches out to those in need of comfort and solace, as well as in celebration and joy.  Many blessings are prayed into every shawl.

Whether they are called Prayer Shawls, Comfort Shawls, Peace Shawls, or Mantles, etc., the shawl maker begins with prayers and blessings for the recipient.  The intentions are continued throughout the creation of the shawl.  Upon completion, a final blessing is offered before the shawl is sent on its way.   

The mission statement of the Prayer Shawl Guild is, "We want to reach out to those in need with a prayer shawl of prayers and love to comfort, console and strengthen our family of faith.  We want to be a reminder of God's promise that he is always with us."  They are called "prayer shawls" because the knitting (or crocheting) of the shawl is a spiritual practice for the crafter.  A prayer is said as the shawl is begun and then many prayers are added with the stitches.  Most of the time the recipient of the shawl is not known, but the recipient receives the message that many people have been praying for them and will continue to do so.  Each shawl is a blend of prayers, talents, gifts and grace.  Prayer shawls are gifts freely given with no strings attached.  They are not for sale.  They are gifts of love.  Selling a shawl would defeat the purpose of the ministry.  People wanting to help can make donations to the prayer shawl ministry of their congregation.  That gift could be used to buy more yarn.   

SUN Home provides home health and hospice services to 13 counties -- most in their entirety -- throughout Central Pennsylvania.  For more information, call 1-888-478-6227 or visit the website at www.sunhomehealth.com.