Fabric Of Faith: A Guide To The Prayer Quilt Ministry

Fabric of Faith: A Guide to the Prayer Quilt Ministry

About the AuthorKimberly Winston is the recipient of the 2005 American Academy of Religion Award for Best In-Depth Reporting on Religion. She has written extensively on knitting as a spiritual practice. She is author of Faith Beyond Faith Healing: Finding Hope after Shattered Dreams. She lives in California.For countless generations, patchwork quilts have been a visible act of love. Pieced together from bits and pieces of material, they represent the handiwork and devotion of the quilter - and a deep and comforting connection with the person they're presented to.In the Prayers and Squares Ministry, though, the quilt has become something more - a visible act of prayer. It's made not just with artistry but with purpose; not just with fabric but with prayer. From the time the fabric is purchased to the time the finished quilt is given away, a prayer quilt is prayed over by scores of people, from the person who cuts the fabric to the person who inserts the ties. And - most importantly - when the quilt is completed, it's placed before a congregation and every member is invited to bind a tie and say a prayer for the person it will ultimately comfort. A quilt is a prayer quilt because prayers are part of its fabric.Begun in California in 1992, Prayers and Squares now has some 200 chapters throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada, representing dozens of denominations and faiths. Fabric of Faith is the story of this ministry. It chronicles the amazing ways Prayers and Squares has touched lives and hearts around the world. It offers directions and patterns for making quilts and starting a parish or community chapter. And it provides a selection of prayers, written from many faith traditions, to offer with each complete quilt.